Colourless
by Kaiina
Summary: Narcissa Malfoy was 4 months pregnant when her husband used a spell to ensure a male heir. What if it didn't work? My take on the HP-books if Draco was born a spoiled, snobby girl. Quite uncommen but please try the first chapter! DracoXHarry Fem!Draco
1. Book 1: The beginning of the new year

**AN: I do not own HP or any of t****he charact****ers.**

This story will probably be very different from what you expect but I'm gratefull that you decided to give this a try. The storyline will be mainly the same as the books with onlysome scene's that are changed.

IF THINGS ARE NOT MENTIONED OR QUICKLY SKIPPED OVER IT MEANS THAT THEY HAVEN'T CHANGED FROM THE BOOKS!

I got the idea that if Draco had been a girl his actions would have been seen very differently by the fans. Nobody likes a stuck up boy but stuck of girls on the other hand are perceived as cute. I tried to find a story to read like this with just some altered scene's but couldn't found one. I kept wondering how everything would be different and eventually decided to give it a shot. It's just a try to see if people are interested in this. If the HP community isn't then I probably won't finish writing this. I'm very curious for your responses so have fun reading/reviewing!

**Chapter 1: The beginning of the new year**

Harry stood nervously in front of Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions. Hagrid had gone for a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron since he hated the Gringotts carts so much and he still looked a bit sick.

He didn't really want to get his uniform fitted alone but swallowed and pushed the door open anyway.

Madam Malkin immediately came to greet him, she was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.

"Hogwarts, clear." she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here - a young woman being fitted up just now, in fact. " In the back of the shop a girl was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up her long black robes. She looked quite uncommon, and as Madam Malkin told him to stand on a stool and slipped a long robe over his head so she could pin it to the right length, he found himself studying her.

He guessed she was probably the same age as him but since she barely reached 4 feet 5 and quite slender he might have guessed her younger. She had a pointed face but he couldn't deny she was really good-looking. Her face was pointed and with her pale skin(even her cheeks didn't support even a dash of colour), soft grey eyes and long, sleek platinum-blond hair that reached her lower back and looked incredibly white in the lighting, he almost wondered if someone had managed to magically turn of her colour. He had to admit though even if she wasn't being broadcasted in colour she was undeniably gorgeous and he could feel his face heat up when her eyes rested on him too.

"Hello," said the girl, "Hogwarts, too."

"Yes," said Harry.

Her eyes seemed to take him in completely and when she fixed her light-grey eyes on his green ones he found by some power that he couldn't look away. "My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the girl. She had a bored, drawling yet smooth voice and he seemed to have lost her attention somewhat as she broke eye-contact with him. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." Harry noticed that her eyes shone brightly with mischief and with a shudder he was reminded of his cousin. "Have you got your own broom?" the girl went on.

"No," said Harry.

"Play Quidditch at all?" She curiously questioned.

"No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.

"I do - Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been" Her lips formed a thin line and unexpectedly her light eyes that had been so brewing with mischief turn into a dull stone-grey colour and hardened as she narrowed them. "imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting to the girl.

"I say, look at that man!" said the girl suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.

"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something she didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh," said the girl as she lifted an elegant finger to her lips, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage - lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly. He was liking the girl less and less every second and already the dazzling first impression she had made on him crumbled.

"Do you?" said the girl, a slight sneer danced on her lips now and was clear in her voice. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this girl.

"Oh, sorry," said the other and he might have believed her if any emotion had showed in those stone-grey eyes. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"

"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families." She rambled on. "What's your surname, anyway?"

But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, glad for an excuse to stop talking to the girl, hopped down from the footstool.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the girl with a polite nod.

Chap 6, p 79 The train

The next day Harry couldn't believe he was already on the train that would lead him to his new school and had already made one new acquaintance.

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside signalling a cart littered with candy he'd never heard of. Luckily for him Ron had. The redheaded boy seemed reluctant at first to take Harry's offer but eventually agreed to share Harry's candy. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies. The redhead explained and chattered excitedly and Harry was glad to have found someone who he could ask about these sort of things.

Later there was a knock on the door of their compartment from a round-faced boy asking about his missing toad. Later joined by a girl who was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes. "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she asked. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.

They told her they hadn't but by that time she was more interested in the magic Ron was about to perform, or at least tried too. The girl, who had introduced herself as Hermione Granger, left soon after that and the topic turned towards the houses of their school and then to Quidditch.

Ron was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.

Three people entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once: it was the pale girl from Madam Malkin's robe shop. She was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than she'd shown back in Diagon Alley.

"Is it true?" she asked her eyes showing curiosity and wonder. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the boys that accompanied her. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Especially since they were standing on either side of the short, frail looking girl, they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale girl carelessly and wove a quick dismissive hand at them when she noticed Harry's gaze on them. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Her eyes immediately depleted of her proud look and glared at him instead.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." She turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." She held out her own gloved hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." he said coolly.

Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared on her pale cheeks for the first time since he met her.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," she said so slow and smooth that it sounded positively dangerous. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you." Both Harry and Ron stood up.

"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered at him. Despite both of them being considerably taller than her she still found a way to raise her nose in the air and look down at them.

"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Her smooth voice responded.

Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron - Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.

Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle - Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.

"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.

I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No - I don't believe it - he's gone back to sleep-" And so he had.

"You've met Malfoy before?" Ron inquired and Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley, leaving out the part of his first impression of her.

"I've heard of her family, the Malfoy's" said Ron darkly. " If you think my family's mental you should take a look at hers. Her old man wanted a son so bad he even gave her a boy's name. They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side. He's completely mental, that one. He goes around spouting his beliefs that only the purest, ancient families should be allowed to attain magic. I'm surprised she's going to Hogwarts since it's lead by Dumbledore, who has always been very nice to Muggles and Muggleborns."

Harry shrugged at that, not really knowing what to say.

The rest of the ride to the castle was uneventful and Harry felt relieved when he noticed it would be Hagrid who would lead the first-years to the castle.

After that he fell from one surprise into the other. The ride in the boats, his first glance at the castle, meeting a stern-looking witch that Hagrid addressed as professor McGonagall, Ron telling him rumours (mostly false, he realised later) about the sorting hat, his first time seeing an actual ghost and of course his first time entering the great hall, at that point still unaware he would be entering it at least a thousand times in his school career.

He looked up at the ceiling in wonder and he heard Hermione whisper, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.

Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. His aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house, Harry had registered vaguely.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, But don't judge on what you see, I'll eat myself if you can find A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black, Your top hats sleek and tall, For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head The Sorting Hat can't see, So try me on and I will tell you Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuff's are true And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin You'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap! You're in safe hands (though I have none) For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll." Harry smiled weakly. Yes, it did seem a better alternative but Harry did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said.

Harry heard the woman call out a name, one of the students broke herself free of the mass, sat down on the stool and put the hat one. There was a short silence in which Harry held his breath. "HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat yelled and one of the tables broke out in cheers as the girl joined them.

There were more names called out after that but Harry didn't recognize any of the other first years that had been sorted. The routine was always the same, except for the fact that the hat took longer to think about some people then about others before sorting them in a house.

He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him. He realised that it wasn't exactly honest but he secretly wished he wouldn't be sorted into Slytherin, from what he'd heard and seen so far they seemed rather unpleasant. But he had to admit that he shouldn't judge things, or people for that manner, on first impressions.

Then professor McGonagall called out the first person that he to recognized.

"Granger, Hermione!" Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.

When Neville Longbottom, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to return it.

A horrible thought struck Harry, like they always do when he was nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?

"Malfoy, Draco!"

Malfoy swaggered forward in her usual elegant stride, like she was walking on air or some form of red carpet. Her head was raised high and confidence radiated off of her in waves, like she was the most important person in the room. She didn't glance at anyone as she walked through the group of people and when she walked passed him she even had the nerve to bump him with her shoulder. She barely stopped but did glance at him and did say with a smirk "What's the matter Potter? Scared of the big bad sorting hat?" before continuing with her usual big, powerful strides.

If it had been Malfoy's plan to make him even more scared, it had seriously backfired. He wasn't going to lose to her and he definitely wasn't going to let her scare him or let her see how nervous he was. He proudly puffed his chest and stood a bit straighter.

Malfoy sat down on the stool in the same gracious matter and when the hat only barely touched her head it already screamed: "SLYTHERIN!" Malfoy went to join her new house, looking smug and pleased with herself.

More people were sorted and Harry nearly jumped when he heard his name being called. "Potter, Harry!" As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. "Potter, did she say." "The Harry Potter."

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.

"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where shall I put you?" Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, not Slytherin, not Slytherin.

"Not Slytherin, eh." said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that - no. Well, if you're sure - better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down opposite to the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.

He glanced back at the remaining first years, noticing Ron giving him an encouraging smile, and past them he saw Malfoy sit with her arms crossed stubbornly over her chest and a glare fixed on him that would have shot lasers if it could.

He quickly averted his eyes and looked at the High Table, that he could see properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up.

More people were sorted until it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as. Not much later Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Not much later the table was filled with more food than Harry had ever seen and after all the student's had had enough to eat they returned to their rooms, where Harry spent his first night in Hogwarts.

Read author'snote down below please. It's very important to understand the story.

**AN: This might seem very odd for those that have only seen the film since I have used the book as the base and it does have some significant differences.**

**Please don't send messages like: "This is a total rip off! It's exactly like the book!" It's supposed to be. I wanted to do the regular Harry Potter story only as I think it would have gone if Malfoy had been a girl. The story line will be different nearing the end but mostly it will just be the parts featuring Malfoy that will be changed. That's why some parts may be very detailed and I skip over others.**

**All the things that I did not mention (such as Harry's time with Hagrid and the talking with Ron on the train hasn't changed! I didn't write it all out but it still happened. But like I said earlier only the parts with Malfoy's appearance's will be changed. Things that are not written remain as they are in the books.)**

**This was difficult. I wanted to have almost the same dialogue as the book does, keeping Draco's personality the same but I also want to clearly show that he/she will be viewed in a different light during the story.**

**This story will probably be very different from what you expected but I'm gratefull that you decided to give this a try. ****I got the idea that if Draco had been a girl his actions would have been seen very differently by the fans. Nobody likes a stuck up boy but stuck of girls on the other hand are perceived as cute. I tried to find a story to read like this with just some altered scene's but couldn't found one. I kept wondering how everything would be different and eventually decided to give it a shot. It's just a try to see if people are interested in this. If the HP community isn't then I probably won't be worth finishing this.**

**If anybody has any questions, advise or comments please send them. I've doubted if I was going to write this for a long time and I really want to make this as good as possible.**


	2. B1: Teachers, Flights and Midnight Duels

AN: I do not own HP or any of the characters.

This story will probably be very different from what you expect but I'm grateful that you decided to give this a try. The storyline will be mainly the same as the first few books and change more and more as we continue

IF THINGS ARE NOT MENTIONED OR QUICKLY SKIPPED OVER IT MEANS THAT THEY HAVEN'T CHANGED FROM THE BOOKS!

I'm very curious for your responses so have fun reading/reviewing!

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Devil Teachers, promising flights and midnight duels<p>

It had been a busy few days for Harry. Still he felt relieved that he hadn't turned out to be the only person that didn't have any clue about magic. There were plenty of students who knew just as little about cursing someone or brewing potions. Most of his classes hadn't been too bad with the exception of potions, which professor Snape taught. There were many complains about the dark teacher favouring the Slytherins and it hadn't taken Harry long to find out those had been true.

At the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson on Friday, he knew he'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Harry - he hated him.

The first lesson had been hell and the dungeon, where potion lessons took place, was already Harry's most hated place. Harry didn't seem to possess any particular talent for brewing potions. Snape's constant criticizing, ranting and point deduction for Harry's cheekiness didn't exactly kindle his love for potions either.

But at least Harry wasn't alone. Snape swept around the dungeon in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing and terrorizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.

The greasy teacher occasionally told the class to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed her horned slugs or crushed this or cut that. The girl that had been absolutely beaming at her teachers praise. Harry thought that when she looked genuinely pleased with herself like she was now she reminded him very much of the girl he would have expected her to be when he first met her. That is before she started speaking like a snob and before she showed him how cold and harsh she really was.

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle would snigger behind their hands when Snape decided to berate another innocent student for a small error before going back to praising Malfoy occasionally.

"Oh Merlin," Ron sighed. "Those two should just shag and get it over with." He said motioning towards Snape, who was busy calling Neville an idiot, and Malfoy who was still beaming proudly.

* * *

><p>Harry had never believed he would meet someone he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy. They only had Potions with the Slytherins, so he didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Or at least, he didn't until someone told him they would be learning flying together that Thursday.<p>

"Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good she is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk." Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot but then again so did Seamus Finnegan and Ron… and about all of the boys in their year…. And the girls in their year… and the older students.

Secretly Harry was really looking forward on learning how to fly but he couldn't get over his nerves since most of the wizardborn students had done it already.

He couldn't dwell on it for very long since the post arrived. Harry hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note last Friday, inviting him for tea.

Something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course. Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing her packages of sweets sent by her mother, which she opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table.

A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.

"It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things - this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red - oh..." His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "You've forgotten something..." Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand. Mischievous smile lit up her face as she smirked at them.

Harry and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy and her oafs, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash. "What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor." Neville confessed.

The girl quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table and she smiled slyly. "Just looking," she said, and left with a shrug, Crabbe and Goyle following faithfully behind her. Both Ron and Harry followed her with their eyes, long hair dancing almost playfully behind her.

* * *

><p>At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors stood on a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.<p>

The Slytherins were already there, and their teacher, Madam Hooch, had just arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

Harry was pleased when he was one of the few that got his broom to jump up in his hand at once but he and Ron were even more pleased when Madam Hooch told Draco she'd been doing it wrong for years. The girl was positively fuming.

Before they could even begin trying getting in the air with their brooms, Neville made some kind of mistake, that led him to fall down on the ground with a loud crack. His broomstick, that had been floating twenty feet above the air, started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.

Madame Hooch muttered something about a broken wrist and took the pale, crying boy to the hospital wing but not before threatening to expel anyone that even dared to touch a broom in her absence.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter. "Did you see his face, the great lump." The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom." said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry-babies, Parvati."

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." The Remembrall glittered in the sun as she held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

The girl looked him up and down and smiled nastily. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find - how about - up a tree." She said while touching her lip as if in thought.

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto her broomstick and taken off. She hadn't been lying, she could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak she called daringly, "Come and get it, Potter!" Harry grabbed his broom.

"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all into trouble." Harry ignored her. Glancing at the blond girl that was now inspecting her short nails in challenge. Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him -and in a rush of fierce joy he realized he'd found something he could do without being taught - this was easy, this was wonderful. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.

He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in mid-air. Malfoy looked stunned. Staring at him with slightly open mouth and wide open mouth.

"Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"Oh, yeah?" challenged Malfoy, correcting earlier expression and making a good attempt to sneer at him.

Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. The girl only just got out of the way in time by leaning with all her weight to the right; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.

The girl righted herself quickly, hair swishing wildly even though she had bound it in a tight ponytail.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called at the slytherin.

The same thought seemed to have struck the spoiled girl. "Catch it if you can, then!" she shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.

Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down - next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball - wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching - he stretched out his hand - a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.

"HARRY POTTER!" His heart sank faster than he'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. He got to his feet, trembling.

"Never - in all my time at Hogwarts -"

Harry faintly registered the blond girl he'd been arguing with earlier standing with the rest of the class, arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes shone with amusement and the lips of her mouth were turned up in triumph.

Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock? "- how dare you - might have broken your neck -"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor -"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil"

"But Malfoy -"

"That's enough, Mister Weasley. Potter, follow me, now." Harry glanced at the sight of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle. He was going to be expelled, he just knew it.

He hated Malfoy more than anyone or anything in the world that moment but later he had to admit that in reality he had to thank the tiny witch, after all, it was thanks to her that he made it to the Quidditch team that year.

Not much later after he'd been offered to join the Gryffindors Quidditch team he was approached by Malfoy in the great hall, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?" The girl bit at him with a sneer.

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.

He realized soon that it had been the wrong thing to say. The girl lost her temper. She took a step closer to him, even though this meant she had to lift her head up quite a bit to scowl at him. "I'd take you on anytime on my own," she said. Her hands stood stubbornly on her side and her high ponytail swished with the fierce movement of her head, even though she tried to control her anger. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only - no contact."

Harry was momentarily stomped at this and when she noticed it, causing her anger to calm down and her usual smug look to return. "What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose."

"Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm his second, who's yours?" Malfoy turned around and almost hit Harry in the face with her long ponytail. She looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.

"Crabbe," she said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked." The girl sauntered off, ponytail swishing from left to right from her powerful stride. Harry didn't know why but he had the feeling that for some reason she'd already won.

When she had completely gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other.

"What is a wizard's duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"

"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie. Catching the look on Harry's face, he added quickly, "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards and witches. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet she expected you to refuse, anyway."

"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" Harry asked, slightly panicking.

"Throw it away and punch her on the nose," Ron suggested.

Harry really didn't feel comfortable with punching a girl in the nose, even one that didn't act like a girl but he was interupted before he could even say anything.

"Excuse me." They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.

"Can't a person eat in peace in this place." said Ron.

Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry.

"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying -"

"Bet you could," Ron muttered.

"-and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you." The girl chipped in.

"And it's really none of your business," said Harry.

"Good-bye," said Ron.

All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Harry thought, as he lay awake much later listening to Dean and Seamus falling asleep (Neville wasn't back from the hospital wing). Ron had spent all evening giving him advice such as "If she tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them."

There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs Norris, and Harry felt he was pushing his luck, breaking another school rule today. On the other hand, Malfoys sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness - this was his big chance to beat the girl face-to-face. He couldn't miss it.

"Half-past eleven," Ron muttered at last, "we'd better go." They pulled on their bathrobes, picked up their wands, and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room.

A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry." A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown.

"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"

"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy - he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.

"Come on," he said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.

Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor? Do you only care about yourselves? I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"Go away." Ron snapped.

"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so -" But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a night-time visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.

"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.

"That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go, we are going to be late." They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.

"I'm coming with you," she said.

"You are not." Ron immediately retorted.

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me. If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up." She said.

"You've got some nerve -" said Ron loudly.

"Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something." It was a sort of snuffling.

"Mrs. Norris." breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.

It wasn't Mrs Norris. It was Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.

"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed." He whimpered.

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere." Hermione growled.

"How's your arm?" asked Harry.

"Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

"Good - well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later -" Ron said.

"Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet, "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already." Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville.

"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies that Quirrell told us about, and use it on you."

Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies, but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward.

They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.

Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.

"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.

Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak -and it wasn't Malfoy.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner." It was Filch speaking to Mrs Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.

"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."

"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run -he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armour.

The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.

"RUN!" Harry yelled, and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following - they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going - they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.

"I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.

"I - told -you," Hermione gasped, "I - told - you."

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible."

"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realize that, don't you? She was never going to meet you - Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off." Harry thought she was probably right, but he wasn't going to tell her that. His hands nearly clenched at the thought of the infuriating girl.

They had a running with Peeves and a three-headed dog after that but luckily didn't get caught by Filch. When they returned to the tower the Fat Lady had already returned to her painting. She did ask them where they came from but let them through without further question when they just told her the password.

While lying in his bed Harry's thoughts flashed to the girl that had tried to set him up that night but they didn't stay there very long as he realized that he had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.

* * *

><p>AN: Some of you might think there won't be any changes in the storyline since this is another chapter where relatively little changed. I don't think things will be very different in the first few books. The basic structure of the book won't change either. The war, dumbledore's army, death eathers, etc will remain relatively the same but it's the relationships between characters that I really want to focus on.<p>

In the first few books I'll try to build a hateful relationships between the two of them, then the little changes will follow and eventually there will be some major changes in the plot. I'll try not to give away too much. You can skip several chapters if you aren't interested in the relationship building and only in the changes afterwards. Since the plot won't be any different for the first few years it won't make much difference if you pick up later.

That's all folks. ^^


	3. B1: Fights, Detentions and The House Cup

The morning after meeting the three-headed dog Malfoy couldn't believe her eyes when she saw them. Harry and Ron were glad they didn't get expelled but at the same time they had a strong desire for revenge. Receiving Harry's new Nimbus Two Thousand only a week later and looking at her infuriated face had eased that desire quite efficiently though. Malfoy had only gotten worse after that, luckily she left for the Christmas holidays.

Weeks later the Gryffindor team had just won against Hufflepuff. Harry had been elated until he'd caught a conversation between Snape and Quirrell again. He was wondering what to do with the new information he'd picked up when he was interrupted by an arguing Ron and Hermione.

"Of course you'd get in trouble Ron! What did you think would happen?!-" He heard Hermione rant at him.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"Ron grabbed Malfoy." Hermione sighed. "It took me, Neville, Crab and Goyle to tear those two apart. It was quite distasteful really."

"What?" Ron said defensively. "She deserved it! She was insulting Harry, Neville, me and my family. You and Neville should have just let me punch her." He crossed his arms over his chest protectively and added under his breath.

"You shouldn't hit girls!" Hermione said in outrage.

"You heard what she said about Harry's parents and calling Neville stupid. Anyone would have done the same! If she'd been a boy it would have been no problem but _no_ she's a girl so she deserves special treatment. That's bollocks!" Said Ron.

"No Ron! Even if she is a rude bag of slime you can't hit a girl!" Hermione yelled back.

"I didn't hit her!" Ron bit defensively but added under his breath. "Though I might have if Goyle and Crabbe hadn't tackled me and Neville wasn't knocked out cold."

"Ron!" Hermione yelled. "You know better than to start fights with girls."

"Not if that _girl_" Harry noted that Ron's tone of voice seemed to imply he really didn't consider her that. "is Malfoy!"

Both looked furiously at each other and then at Harry, both saying at the same time: "Tell him/her, Harry!"

"Uh-" Harry scratched his ear awkwardly. Not knowing exactly what to say. Luckily, or unluckily, his friends patiently waited for whatever he was going to say.

"Hey Ickle Ronniekinz" Cooed Fred, who along with George seemingly jumped out of nowhere. "Heard of your little run-in with Malfoy."

"Yes," Said George, who threw an arm around his young brother's shoulder. "Brutal."

"If you win against a girl-" Fred said.

"You'll be the guy who beat up a girl-" George continued.

"But if you don't-" Fred resumed.

"You'll be the guy who got beaten up by a girl." Finished George.

The two twins glanced at each other and then spoke at the same time. "And the Malfoy girl could totally trash you."

Ron's ears glowed red. "She could not!"

The Weasley twins just smiled. "It doesn't matter anyway Ronniekinz-" Fred said ruffling his hair.

"-Since Malfoy is so high above Muggle-fistfights." Both of them sniggered and sauntered off in the direction of Hogwarts.

"Sometimes I really can't stand those two." Ron admitted.

* * *

><p>Weeks after that Harry and Hermione were sneaking through the old Hogwarts Halls. They knew that Malfoy knew about their plan to get rid of Norbert and was still undoubtedly pissed about Ron's actions at the Hufflepuff match. But they didn't have time to change the plan. They just had to get the dragon in the tower by midnight.<p>

"Nearly there!" Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.

Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate.

Forgetting that they were already invisible, Harry and Hermione shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared.

Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by her wrist.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you young lady."

"You don't understand, Professor. Potter's coming - he's got a dragon!" The girl complained. It was the first time Harry had seen her in anything but her Hogwarts uniform. She was wearing thick grey sweatpants, a blue top and her hair was tied together sloppily in two low ponytails. She looked more like a stubborn seven year old girl refusing bed time than the devious witch she'd turned out to be.

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies girl! Come on - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!" The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again.

Hermione did a sort of jig. "Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Don't," Harry advised her.

Chuckling about blonde girl's misfortune, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. Charlie's friends came to collect the dragon not much later.

They had considered the night a success then, that is until they were caught by Filch later that night.

Things couldn't have been worse. Professor McGonagall gave all three of them detention (including Neville who had been trying to warn them) and took fifty points from Gryffindor for each of them. For that they were pretty much hated by everyone in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

Days later notes were delivered to Harry, Hermione, and Neville at the breakfast table. They were all the same:

_Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr Filch in the entrance hall._

Draco stormed out of the room. Harry had almost forgotten she'd gotten detention too and though he couldn't see her face, he was quite sure that she was just furious about receiving the details of their detention.

He had doubted if she would show up for it. But that night at eleven o'clock it had seemed so. Filch was already there, and so was Malfoy, her hair was pulled in a high ponytail again and she stood with her arm crossed defiantly over her chest, sulking.

"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh." he said, leering at them. "Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well-oiled in case they're ever needed... Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do." They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing, Hermione looked slightly frightened and Malfoy just scowled at the man behind his back. Harry wondered what their punishment was going to be. It must be something really horrible, or Filch wouldn't be sounding so delighted.

The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

Harry's heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. His relief must have showed in his face, because Filch said, "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf. Well, think again, boy - it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece." At this, Neville let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in her tracks.

"The forest." She repeated, and she didn't sound quite as cool as usual, a small quiver could faintly be heard in her voice. "We can't go in there at night - there's all sorts of things in there - werewolves, I heard."

Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry's robe and made a choking noise.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione?"

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh. 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

Malfoy now turned to Hagrid. "I'm not going in that forest." she said decisively, but Harry was pleased pick up a faint note of panic in her voice.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely."Yeh've done wrong an' now yehve got ter pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do!" She yelled regaining some composure. "I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew you want to make me do this-"

"He'd tell yer ter suck it up!" Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. I know yer father an' yeh should know better than anyone yer father wouldn't rather see yeh expelled but yeh could go pack 'n try 'im. He'd be mighty happy with 'n expelled daughter I bet. It'd be the first Malfoy ever, wouldn't it?"

Malfoy didn't move. There was a tense silence and Harry had the idea that there was something that he was missing. He noticed Neville and Hermione also watching the girl intently. Malfoy looked at Hagrid absolutely furiously. If she wasn't so short or Hagrid so tall she might have jumped him and tried to strangle him. But she just dropped her gaze. He could still feel the anger radiating off of her in waves. For some reason Harry thought she wouldn't be forgetting this anytime soon.

"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment." He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.

"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground. Silvery stuff. That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" asked Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of her voice.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. " So me, Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Malfoy, Neville, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now - that's it - an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh - so, be careful - let's go."

They split up but it didn't take long before they saw Neville shoot red sparks from his wand. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups - Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' this idiot."

Malfoy seemed to explode in rage and shouts but Hagrid only ignored her.

"Sorry Harry," Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry, "but she'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an' we've gotta get this done."

So Harry set off into the heart of the forest with Malfoy and Fang. She was noticeably in a bad mood. Complaining and cursing under her breath. He considered addressing her but thought better of it. They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick.

They had to climb over several fallen trees or large roots. It was quite easy for him, though Malfoy seemed to have a harder time than him since she wasn't as tall, let alone the fact that the uniform's skirt wasn't ideal for climbing either. Luckily for her she always wore thick, black leggings underneath her skirt. He felt slightly bad for her and even offered his help once but she only snapped at him. "I can handle myself Potter!"

Harry just let her struggle on by herself after that and was quite pleased when her leggings got snagged on a branch, resulting in a small rip right underneath her knee.

She complained some more about the forest after that. Complained about Filch and Hagrid, and the fact that no one had told her they'd be heading in the forest so how was she to dress accordingly. At this Harry noticed that she was only wearing the uniform's plain white, buttoned shirt even the ever-present serpent-broche on her tie seemed to have been left behind. With a sigh he took off his robe and offered it to her. Feeling it was the right thing to do.

At this she stopped dead in her tracks. The look on her face was pure anger and disgust. "I don't need it. I wouldn't wear your stinking rags even if my life depended on it, Potter." Then she just stomped forward.

"Look -" he murmured, holding out his arm to stop the girl. Malfoy looked at the arm in front of her in offence but didn't say anything about it when she too noticed something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They looked at each other and decided without words to inch closer.

It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Harry had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.

Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered... He vaguely heard Malfoy suck in a gasp and take a step closer to him.

Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Harry, Malfoy, and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Malfoy let out a terrible scream and lunged herself at Harry's back, burying her head and fingers in the fabric of his sweater.

Harry dropped the robe in his hand on the ground and took a couple of steps back, pushing her back with him.

The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry, unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward them.

Then a pain like he'd never felt before pierced his head, it was as though his scar was on fire. It was so close that he was too frozen in fear to do anything. Harry knew he had to do something to get both of them to safety but the pain in his head was so bad now that he couldn't think and the panic rushing through him was keeping him from making a move.

When it was almost close enough to touch them Malfoy screamed again and tugged him backwards. The increased distance from it, however small it was, immediately relieved some of the pain in his head. In a moment of clarity he turned around and both of them took off in a run.

The forest was too dark to really see where they were going. (Fang, who had been carrying the light, must have run off a while ago.) Despite this him and Malfoy practically flew over the forest floor. She was surprisingly fast but Harry knew he hadn't run this fast in his life either.

Harry almost yelped when he suddenly didn't feel the ground beneath his foot anymore. Both of them fell forward into a trench that they hadn't been able to see in the dark. The wet leaves stuck to Harry's clothes and face as he rolled through them but also kept him from getting hurt. When he looked up his vision was too blurred from the pain to see anything but vague coloured spots. In the different shades of dark he saw there was only one pale streak that he guessed to be Malfoy's long hair but she didn't seem to be moving and the corners of his vision faded in and out of blackness.

Harry was sure that the pain would make him black out at any moment but somewhere that seemed far away he heard hooves approaching. Another blur practically flew over Harry's range of vision. The pain lessened almost immediately, his vision slowly came into focus again. When he looked up there was no dark figure looming anywhere near. Only a centaur was standing on one of the trench's ledges, not Ronan or Bane, this one looked younger, he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.

"Are you both all right?" asked the centaur.

Harry's eyes snapped to his companion. She was lying completely still, with her eyes closed, only a foot away from him. Her hair and face looked incredibly white against the dark forest floor and sky. For a moment it seemed as if she was only sleeping in the middle of the forest for some odd reason but when he looked closer he noticed blood leaking from a nasty cut on her head.

He crawled closer on his hand and knees, partly because his head still hurt and partly because he knew it would be faster. His right hand pushed on the side of her neck softly to feel for a pulse while his other was held in front of her mouth to check her breathing. Faintly, he noted the Centaur giving him an odd look, maybe because wizard had better ways to check for vital signs.

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know. I think so but I should take her back to Hagrid to be sure."

He looked carefully at Harry, his eyes lingering on the scar that stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead.

"You are the Potter boy," he said. "The forest is not safe at this time, especially for you. Can you stand? If you can ride it will be much quicker."

Harry nodded numbly and pulled himself onto his feet. The trench, he noticed, couldn't be deeper than three feet but had been enough to let both of them lose their footing in the dark. Harry stood awkwardly still for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to pick the girl up. He crouched down next to her again and slipped his arms under hers.

With a slight groan he pushed himself to his feet and pulled her up with him. Like he expected she didn't react to the sudden movements at all. Her body was completely limp in his arms and her head fell against his chest. Harry was just pulling her out of the trench and wondering if Hermione would know a spell to rid his uniform from her blood that was now staining his sweater when he froze mid-track. He just realized that he hadn't been this close to a person in a very long time. He racked his brain for a memory of someone holding him this close but realized that nobody ever had, maybe his mother and father had and he had never held anyone like this.

But with a shrug he realized that this wasn't really an embrace either. He continued pulling her towards the centaur but kept his eyes fixed on his arms circling the girl and resting on her back. He wondered if this counted for his first real embrace. It wasn't really a friendly gesture. It had more to do with the fact he wouldn't have been strong enough to carry her any other way.

If she'd been awake she would have surely thrown him a whole dictionary full of snide remarks but now that she was completely still and there was not a single sign of anything remotely negative on her face she looked much calmer than her usual self. It seemed she hadn't even grown very much this year but he had apparently as he started being only 4 inches taller than her and now he was 6 inches taller. She seemed so much smaller when she wasn't awake.

"My name is Firenze," The centaur said as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Harry could put both of them on his back easier.

* * *

><p>At the end-of-year feast, Harry noticed Draco Malfoy cheering along with her fellow Slytherins since they had won the house cup for the seventh year in row. She spent no more than a night in the hospital wing. Hermione had told him she'd feared that Malfoy could do serious damage to the school, Dumbledore and Hagrid if she decided to make her story public.<p>

Harry guessed it made sense. Knocking yourself unconscious while fleeing from an evil lord was something most people would see as _taking detention __**too**__ far_. Though of course Malfoy didn't know that had been Voldemort, she still had a pretty good case. Yet she hadn't seemed to have told anybody what happened that night. He hadn't spoken with her since that night, nor had he felt any need to. But even more than the two of them not talking since that day, she had completely ignored him.

Harry also thought that she might have saved him when she tugged at him, braking his trancelike-state. Of course it had been accidental. She had been scared and used him as a human shield more than anything else. Yet maybe he had saved her a bit too. She too had been to frozen to do anything else than cower behind him and if he hadn't taken the initiative to start running they probably would have both died.

Dumbledore had told him that his father had saved Snape's life and that their relationship was very much like the relationship between him and Malfoy. So he guessed Snape had evened out his debt. Harry and Malfoy were probably even too. It didn't really matter.

Dumbledore started his speech in his usual cheerful way but when he finished given his last-minute points and changed the decoration to the Gryffindors red and gold Harry could swear he saw a glint of mischief shine in those old, blue eyes.

Harry, still cheering, nudged Ron in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if she'd just had the Body-Bind Curse put on her. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile. He caught Harry's eye and Harry knew at once that Snape's feelings toward him hadn't changed one jot.

It didn't matter. Harry still didn't like either of them. Whether they were even or not. Soon he would be returning to the Dursley's, which was probably the worst thing that could possibly happen to him right now but in the end he would be able to return. He was looking forward to that despite Snape or Malfoy or even Voldemort. He'd be able to return and to Harry that bright future was the most important thing that evening.

* * *

><p>I've had a lot of work on the <strong>second book but it's finally completely finished<strong>. I'm not happy with it but it's quite alright. I don't want to upload this and the entire second book in one go (book 2= 9 Chapters :O) **So I'll doing it chapter by chapter. Maybe one every two or three day. So if you don't have it in your alert list. Keep an eye on it xp**

Sorry this took so long. This story isn't dead at all. Actually I've been working on it full-time. I had to reread all the Harry Potter books and figure out what I was actually planning to do with this story plus I re-watched all the movies. (I had some lose ideas but nothing solid. I sort of do now.)

**P.S. I hope everyone feels inspired to draw Malfoy in girl mode(I have some rough sketches myself but nothing decent) or write a story with Malfoy as a girl. If you do please send me a link. I'm dying to see this. This story started as a silly idea I wrote for fun (not really into HP, gender bend or Drarry honestly ^^) but now I'm getting really into this xP I love this story now. It's so much fun to write.**


	4. B2: Breakout, Floopowder and shopping

Harry's twelfth year of life had, so far, been a combination of high's and low's really. His summer vacation had been miserable, uncle Vernon had locked all of Harry's magical things—his spellbooks, broomstick, wand and cauldron—into a closet. And thus he'd completely lost touch with the magical community. He had missed his friends Ron and Hermione, who he hadn't heard from all summer, and of course he missed Hogwarts. He would have even been happy to catch a glimpse of Argus Filch or the Whomping Willow but of course that hadn't happened.

The Dursley's were hardly pleasant company although Harry silently enjoyed the chaos that he could bring to the house by letting the M-word slip every now and then.

His birthday hadn't been celebrated any different than it would normally be celebrated, not at all. The Dursley's were stubbornly ignoring the fact that it was a day different than any other day. Well that wasn't completely true. It was a special day for the Dursley's. They were very excited about a dinner that night during which Vernon, who sells drills, hopes to make a business deal with a rich builder. They were even rehearsing what to say during breakfast.

It could have gone better.

Or at least that was Harry's opinion.

Because having a small creature, with bulging green eyes and bat-like ears, wearing a tattered pillowcase for clothes enchant a violet pudding and crash it to the ground wasn't Harry's idea for a perfect dinner party.

Or birthday for that matter.

And the owl that dropped a letter on one of the guests heads-

That could have gone better too.

Especially when he found out that it was a warning. Stating that Harry wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school. Harry couldn't have picked a worse time for the Dursley's to find out about that too. They were already livid. And because they didn't fear that Harry would use magic on them anymore Harry was locked in his room with the window barred, and was fed through a flap in the door.

So the drill-deal is off. Some crazy creature named Dobby has stolen his letters from Ron and Hermione, told him not to return to Hogwarts and destroyed a perfectly good violet pudding. And on top of that he was now completely locked up. His life has now reached an all-time low, and even in his dreams he was plagued by thoughts of being caged and taunted.

Luckily soon after that it started to look up for him. Ron came to rescue him in a flying car along with his brothers Fred and George. They were able to tell him that house-elves usually belong to old, wealthy wizard families. This information lead Harry to believe that Dobby must live with Draco Malfoy, Harry's least favourite person at Hogwarts.

Well maybe she could tie with Professor Snape and Filch.

Harry believes that Draco must have sent her house-elf to prevent Harry from coming back to school. Harry mentions the incident to the twins, who inform him that Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, was a loyal follower of Voldemort. Although Harry already knew that.

After that everything suddenly became better. Mrs Weasley welcomed him to their home warmly. Though Ron and his brothers were welcomed back slightly less warmly.

That was an understatement.

But Harry enjoys his time in the Weasleys' crooked, disorderly and positively magical house. Ron seemed embarrassed about it but Harry loved it and could only imagine what it would have been like to grow up in a house just like it.

He spent most of his time helping Ron and his brothers with their chores such as de-gnoming the garden and playing Quidditch. That was until the day that their letters arrived and they decided it was time to pick up their school supplies in Diagon alley.

The travel method of choice for wizards and witches was apparently called Floo powder, a glittery, silver powder that is thrown into a lit fireplace, creating a passageway that will take the traveller to the destination fireplace of his or her choice.

Harry took a pinch of Floo powder and walked to the edge of the fire. He took a deep breath, scattered the powder into the flames, and stepped forward; the fire felt like a warm breeze; he opened his mouth and immediately swallowed a lot of hot ash.

"D-Dia-gon Alley," he coughed.

It felt as though he was being sucked down a giant drain. He seemed to be spinning very fast for what seemed forever and only seconds and then he fell, face forward, onto cold stone and felt the bridge of his glasses snap.

Dizzy and bruised, covered in soot, he got to his feet, holding his broken glasses up to his eyes. He was, alone, but where he was, he had no idea. All he could tell was that he was standing in the stone fireplace of what looked like a large, dimly lit wizard's shop but nothing in here was ever likely to be on a Hogwarts school list.

A glass case nearby held a withered hand on a cushion, evil-looking masks stared down from the walls, an assortment of human bones lay upon the counter, and rusty, spiked instruments hung from the ceiling. Even worse, the dark, narrow street Harry could see through the dusty shop window was definitely not Diagon Alley.

The sooner he got out of here, the better. Harry made his way swiftly and silently toward the door, but before he'd got halfway toward it, two people appeared on the other side of the glass and one of them was the very last person Harry wanted to meet when he was lost, covered in soot, and wearing broken glasses: Draco Malfoy.

Harry looked quickly around and spotted a large black cabinet to his left; he shot inside it and pulled the doors closed, leaving a small crack to peer through. Seconds later, a bell clanged, and Malfoy stepped into the shop.

She had the same strangely appealing air around her as normally. She was still as short and pale as ever. Her hair was as still effortlessly flowing and smooth but the straight cut bangs she sported last year had been replaced by sideswept bangs. It made her face look slightly softer, in Harry's opinion.

The man who followed could only be Draco's father. He had the same pale, pointed face and identical cold, grey eyes. Mr Malfoy crossed the shop, looking lazily at the items on display and rang a bell on the counter before turning to his daughter and saying, "Touch nothing, Draco."

Malfoy, who had reached for the glass eye stopped mid-reach. "I thought you were going to buy me a present."

"I said I would buy you a racing broom." Said her father, drumming his fingers on the counter.

"What's the good of that if I'm not on the House team." said Malfoy, looking sulky and bad-tempered. "Harry Potter got a Nimbus Two Thousand last year. Special permission from Dumbledore so he could play for Gryffindor. He's not even that good, it's just because he's famous. Famous for having a stupid scar on his forehead." Malfoy bent down to examine a shelf full of skulls pout firmly set on her face. "Everyone thinks he's so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick -"

"You have told me this at least a dozen times already," said Mr Malfoy, with a quelling look at his daughter. "And I would remind you that it is not - prudent - to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when most of our kind regard him as the hero who made the Dark Lord disappear - ah, Mr Borgin."

A stooping man had appeared behind the counter, smoothing his greasy hair back from his face.

"Mr Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again," said Mr Borgin in a voice as oily as his hair. "Delighted - and young Lady Malfoy, too - charmed. " Harry had to stifle a laugh when Malfoy, who was browsing and still had her back to the stooping man, rolled her eyes and pulled a face. "How may I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and very reasonably priced -"

"I'm not buying today, Mr Borgin, but selling." said Mr Malfoy.

"Selling." The smile faded slightly from Mr Borgin's face.

"You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducting more raids." Said Mr Malfoy, taking a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and unravelling it for Mr Borgin to read. "I have a few - ah - items at home that might embarrass me, if the Ministry were to call."

Mr Borgin fixed a pair of pince-nez to his nose and looked down the list.

"The Ministry wouldn't presume to trouble you, sir, surely." Mr Malfoy's lip curled.

"I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still commands a certain respect, yet the Ministry grows ever more meddlesome. There are rumours about a new Muggle Protection Act - no doubt that flea- bitten, Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it." Harry felt a hot surge of anger. "- and as you see, certain of these poisons might make it appear -"

"I understand, sir, of course," said Mr Borgin. "Let me see..."

"Can I have that?" Interrupted Draco, pointing at the withered hand on its cushion.

"Ah, the Hand of Glory!" said Mr Borgin, abandoning Mr Malfoy's list and scurrying over to Draco. "Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers! Your daughter has fine taste, sir."

"I hope my daughter will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin," said Mr Malfoy coldly. "Now quiet Draco."

He was almost certain she was going to retort like she would have any other time but to his surprise she swallowed her words and continued browsing, facing her back to both men again.

"No offense, sir, no offense meant -"

"Though if her grades don't pick up," said Mr Malfoy, more coldly still, "that may indeed be all she is fit for -"

"It's not my fault," retorted Draco who whirled around in the blink of an eye. "The teachers all have favourites, that Hermione Granger -"

"I would have thought you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam," snapped Mr Malfoy.

"Ha!" said Harry under his breath, pleased to see Draco looking both abashed and angry.

"And didn't I tell you to stay silent. So don't open your mouth again." Mr Malfoy added in a hiss.

Harry noted that Malfoy only looked more angry yet didn't say anything.

"It's the same all over," said Mr Borgin, in his oily voice. "Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere."

"Not with me," Said Mr Malfoy, his long nostrils flaring.

"No, sir, nor with me, sir." said Mr Borgin, with a deep bow.

"In that case, perhaps we can return to my list," said Mr Malfoy shortly. "I am in something of a hurry, Borgin, I have important business elsewhere today -" They started to haggle. Harry watched nervously as Draco drew nearer and nearer to his hiding place, examining the objects for sale.

Draco paused to examine a long coil of hangman's rope and to read, smirking, the card propped on a magnificent necklace of opals.

Caution: Do Not Touch. Cursed - Has Claimed the Lives of Nineteen Muggle Owners to Date.

Draco turned away and saw the cabinet right in front of her. She walked forward - stretched out her hand for the handle. "Done," said Mr Malfoy at the counter. "Come, Draco." Harry wiped his forehead on his sleeve as Draco turned away.

"Good day to you, Mr Borgin. I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods." The moment the door had closed, Mr Borgin dropped his oily manner.

"Good day yourself, Mister Malfoy, and if the stories are true, you haven't sold me half of what's hidden in your manor."

Muttering darkly, Mr Borgin disappeared into a back room. Harry waited for a minute in case he came back, then, quietly as he could, slipped out of the cabinet, past the glass cases, and out of the shop door.

* * *

><p>After Harry found his way back to Hermione and the Weasleys with Hagrid's help, he told them what happened.<p>

"Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes." Harry asked Ron and Hermione after he finished his explanation. "Malfoy and her father."

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" asked Mr Weasley sharply behind them.

"No, he was selling."

"So he's worried," said Mr Weasley with grim satisfaction. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something ..."

"You be careful, Arthur." said Mrs Weasley sharply as they were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the door. "That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew -"

"So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy." said Mr Weasley indignantly, but he was distracted almost at once by the sight of Hermione's parents, who were standing nervously at the counter that ran all along the great marble hall, waiting for Hermione to introduce them.

* * *

><p>Meeting Gilderoy Lockhart was one of the weirdest moments in Harry's life not to mention unpleasant. Staggering slightly under the weight of his books, he managed to make his way out of the limelight to the edge of the room, where Ginny was standing next to her new cauldron.<p>

"You have these," Harry mumbled to her, tipping the books into the cauldron. "I'll buy my own -"

"Famous Harry Potter," said Malfoy who seemingly showed up out of nowhere. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" said Ginny. It was the first time she had spoken in front of Harry. She was glaring at Malfoy.

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend." Drawled Malfoy, who didn't even spare the redheaded girl a glance. Ginny went scarlet as Ron and Hermione fought their way over, both clutching stacks of Lockhart's books.

"Oh, it's you," said Ron, looking at Malfoy as if she were something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh."

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," retorted Malfoy. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those." Ron went as red as Ginny. He dropped his books into the cauldron, too, and started toward Malfoy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket.

"Ron!" said Mr Weasley, struggling over with Fred and George.

"What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

"Well, well, well - Arthur Weasley." It was Mr Malfoy. He stood with his hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering in just the same way.

"Lucius," said Mr Weasley, nodding coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr Malfoy. "All those raids... I hope they're paying you overtime." He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. "Obviously not," Mr Malfoy said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it." Mr Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy." he said.

"Clearly," said Mr Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr and Mrs Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley ... and I thought your family could sink no lower." There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying. Mr Weasley had thrown himself at Mr Malfoy, knocking him backward into a bookshelf.

Dozens of heavy spell books came thundering down on all their heads. There was a yell of, "Get him, Dad!" from Fred or George.

Mrs Weasley was shrieking, "No, Arthur, no!".

The crowd stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over. "Gentlemen, please - please!" cried the assistant, and then, louder than all: "Break it up, there, gents, break it up -"

Hagrid was wading toward them through the sea of books. In an instant he had pulled Mr Weasley and Mr Malfoy apart. Mr Weasley had a cut lip and Mr Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an Encyclopaedia of Toadstools. He was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Here, girl - take your book - it's the best your father can give you." Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that - no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter - bad blood, that's what it is - come on now - let's get outta here." The assistant looked as though he wanted to stop them leaving but he barely came up to Hagrid's waist and seemed to think better of it. They hurried up the street, the Grangers shaking with fright and Mrs Weasley beside herself with fury.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright I've finished the entire second and third book. It was a lot of hard work. A lot more and harder than I expected. <strong>

**I also decided to fill in the blanks more and just summarize everything in between scene's. It's a lot more work for me but it's also a lot better I think.**

**IMPORTANT: Since the second book (9 chapters) and the third book (5 chapters) are completely finished expect updates every other day. Hopefully by the time I finish the uploading the last chapter of book 3 I'll have book 4 finished and I'll be able to keep the updating schedual. **

**FOR OTHER DRACO WRITERS?**

**I find it very difficult to find a balance between head-strong-stubborn-temperamental-demanding and then the cowardly-whiny-pushover. He-She's often depicted as both in the books but I just can't quite seem to grasp the personality. I just don't seem to get it right. I often find myself wondering how he-she'd react in a certain situation. It's a real challenge to write. But personally I think that being a girl there would be more disappointment and expectations directed towards her. I think that because of the disappointment she would become much more fierce and more driven to prove herself. I'm always torn between pit-bull and poodle with her xp**

**So maybe she is going to be slightly more temperamental and hotheaded than he was. I hope it doesn't bother anyone. **


	5. B2: Signing, seekers and painful victory

After the first lunch of new school year in Hogwarts Harry, Ron and Hermione went outside into the overcast courtyard. Harry supposed his day could have gone better since he spent all morning feeling like everything he'd learned last year had leaked out of his head. But it felt incredibly good, walking in the familiar halls of Hogwarts again.

He was surprised when he found himself being closely watched. Looking up, he recognized the very small, mousy-haired boy he'd seen trying on the Sorting Hat last night staring at Harry as though transfixed. He was clutching what looked like an ordinary Muggle camera, and the moment Harry looked at him, he went bright red.

"H-Hello Harry. I'm -I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly, taking a tentative step forward. "I'm in Gryffindor, too. D'you think - would it be all right if - can I have a picture?" he said, raising the camera hopefully.

"A picture." Harry repeated blankly.

"So I can prove I've met you," said Colin Creevey eagerly, edging further forward. "I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead" Harry couldn't help but notice the boy scanning his hairline. "and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures will move." Colin drew a great shuddering breath of excitement and said, "It's amazing here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him. And it'd be really good if I had one of you" - he looked imploringly at Harry - "maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you. And then, could you sign it?"

Harry had no idea how to respond to that and didn't seem to even get a chance as they were interrupted.

"Signed photos. You're giving out signed photos, Potter?" Draco Malfoy's voice echoed loudly around the courtyard. She had stopped right behind Colin, flanked, as she always was at Hogwarts, by her large and thuggish cronies, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Everyone line up!" Malfoy roared to the crowd. "Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!"

"No, I'm not," Harry's face flamed. "Shut up, Malfoy."

But she didn't. She didn't even have to speak loudly anymore as almost everyone in the courtyard had their attention firmly on them.

Malfoy put on her best chipper girl voice and started fanning herself with her hands as if she was so excited that she might faint. "Oh Potter I'm your biggest fan! Why don't you sign all these poems I wrote for you."

Several people snickered and Harry could feel his face heath up in embarrassment even more.

"You're just jealous," piped up Colin, whose entire body was about as thick as Crabbe's neck.

"Jealous? Of what?" The girl asked, hand poised on her hips. "I don't want a foul scar right across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself." Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering stupidly again.

"Eat slugs, Malfoy," said Ron angrily. Crabbe stopped laughing and started rubbing his knuckles in a menacing way.

"Be careful, Weasley," sneered Malfoy. "You don't want to start any trouble or your Mommy will have to come and take you away from school." She put on a shrill, piercing voice and did quite an inaccurate imitation of Mrs Weasley's howler. "If you put another toe out of line-" A knot of Slytherin fifth-years nearby laughed loudly at this. "Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter." Malfoy added with a smirk. "It'd be worth more than his family's whole house."

Ron whipped out his Spellotaped wand, but Hermione shut Voyages with Vampires with a snap and whispered, "Look out!"

"What's all this, what's all this." Gilderoy Lockhart was striding toward them, his turquoise robes swirling behind him and Harry's heart filled with dread. "Who's giving out signed photos?" Harry started to speak but he was cut short as Lockhart flung an arm around his shoulders and thundered jovially, "Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry!" Pinned to Lockhart's side and burning with humiliation, Harry saw Malfoy slide smirking back into the crowd.

* * *

><p>After the horrible start of the school year, the weirdest quiz he'd ever had and a pixie-attack that would probably scar him for life, both of which Gilderoy Lockhart was responsible for, Harry was quite glad to reach the weekend.<p>

He was planning to visit Hagrid with Ron and Hermione on Saturday morning. Harry, however, was shaken awake several hours earlier than he would have liked by Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Who announced, just a little bit too enthusiastic when there was still a thin mist hanging across the pink-and-gold sky, that there was Quidditch practice.

Practice hadn't even started yet when Wood noticed Collin in the stands, snapping pictures of them. Wood, of course, immediately suspected him of being a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about their new training program.

"He's in Gryffindor." Harry assured him quickly.

"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver." Said George.

"What makes you say that?" Said Wood testily.

"Because they're here in person," Said George, pointing.

Several people in green robes were walking onto the field, broomsticks in their hands.

"I don't believe it!" Wood hissed in outrage. "I booked the field for today! We'll see about this!"

Wood shot toward the ground, landing harder than he meant to in his anger, staggering slightly as he dismounted. Harry, Fred and George followed.

"Flint!" Wood bellowed at the Slytherin Captain. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"

Marcus Flint was even larger than Wood. He had a look of trollish cunning on his face as he replied, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie had come over, too. There were no girls on the Slytherin team, only ridiculously large males who stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the Gryffindors, leering.

"But I booked the field!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it!"

"Ah," said Flint. "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape."

`I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker.'

"You've got a new Seeker?" said Wood, distracted. "Where?"

And from behind the six large figures before them came a smirking pale girl who looked even more petite and brittle than usual compared to the rest of her team. It was Draco Malfoy.

Harry probably could have never imagined Draco in anything as informal as a Quidditch outfit but he had to admit that with her hair pulled back in a high ponytail and the uniform fitted to her exact measurements it suited her, in a strange way. Surprisingly, she looked the part.

"You're Lucius Malfoy's daughter." Said Fred, looking at Malfoy with dislike.

"Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Flint as he put a heavy hand proudly on his new seeker's shoulder as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."

All seven of them held out their broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words Nimbus Two Thousand and One gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early morning sun.

"Very latest model. Only came out last month," said Flint carelessly, flicking a speck of imaginary dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps" - he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives - "sweeps the board with them."

None of the Gryffindor team could think of anything to say for a moment. Malfoy was smirking so broadly her cold eyes were reduced to slits.

"Oh, look," said Flint. "A field invasion."

Ron and Hermione were crossing the grass to see what was going.

"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry. "Why aren't you playing? And what's she doing here?"

He was looking at Malfoy, taking in her Slytherin Quidditch robes.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley. The first female in the team in a hundred years." said Malfoy, smugly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."

Ron gaped, open-mouthed, at the seven superb broomsticks in front of him.

"Good, aren't they?" said Malfoy smoothly. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."

The Slytherin team howled with laughter.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," said Hermione sharply. "They got in on pure talent."

The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy Mudblood." she spat.

Harry knew at once that Malfoy had said something really bad because there was an instant uproar at her words. Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on her, Alicia shrieked, "How dare you!" ; and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" and pointed it furiously under Flint's arm at Malfoys face.

A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling backward onto the grass.

"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" squealed Hermione.

Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead he gave an almighty belch and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth onto his lap.

The Slytherin team were paralyzed with laughter. Flint was doubled up, hanging onto his new broomstick for support. Malfoy was on all fours, banging the ground with her fist. The Gryffindors were gathered around Ron, who kept belching large, glistening slugs. Nobody seemed to want to touch him.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," said Harry to Hermione, who nodded bravely, and the pair of them pulled Ron up by the arms.

Later Hagrid said he didn't blame Ron for trying to curse her, but that it was a good thing that it backfired, since it would have resulted in real trouble for the redhead.

Harry almost pointed out that trouble didn't come much worse than having slugs pouring out of your mouth but decided against it.

* * *

><p>September and October flash past in a the usual combination of classes, homework and Quidditch practice accept now there was an added on detention with Lockhart, deathday parties, eery voices in hallways and an ominous discovery that entailed a warning scrawled in huge letters on a wall and a stiff, hanging Mrs Norris which was of course followed by everybody either giving him funny looks or all around avoiding him. For the past few weeks everybody was either wondering who the heir of Slytherin was or what was hiding in the chamber of secrets. Harry and his friends were no exception to that rule.<p>

For Ron it was an open-and-shut case. Because who did they know that thought all Muggleborns were scum? Harry wasn't sure but he had to admit it made sense, after all it had been Draco Malfoy who had pushed herself to the front of the crowd, cold eyes alive, her usual bloodless face flushed, as she grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile cat. Let alone the whole you'll-be-next-mudbloods-comment.

On top of all that there was the fact that her entire family had been Slytherins thus she could actually be the heir of Slytherin. Her father surely was evil enough. It seemed to make more and more sense the more Harry thought about it.

That's why the three of them ended up with the plan to make polyjuice potion. Getting the book they needed didn't prove to be very difficult, with a little help from Lockhart but making the potion itself wouldn't be so easy. They had a lot of work to do.

That's why Harry found himself relieved when it was finally time to play against Slytherin. Quidditch was great to take his mind of things and unlike everything else that was going on it didn't seem overly complicated, mysterious or ominous.

Well at least it hadn't been until seemingly out of nowhere a bludger tries to knock him off his broom and continuous to do so for a good portion of the game. Fred and George were kept quite busy protecting Harry from the rogue ball but because of that the Slytherins score goal after goal.

Wood calls in a time-out. After the time-out the Gryffindor team kicked hard back into the air but not before Harry noticed all of them throwing Harry worried glances. He knew that telling them he'd deal with the bludger on his own wasn't his best idea ever. But they all knew they didn't have a choice if they wanted to win this.

The rain was falling more heavily now. Harry heard the tell-tale whoosh of the Bludger behind him. Higher and higher Harry climbed; he looped and swooped, spiralled, zigzagged, and rolled. Slightly dizzy, he nevertheless kept his eyes wide open, rain was speckling his glasses and ran up his nostrils as he hung upside down, avoiding another fierce dive from the Bludger. He could hear laughter from the crowd; he knew he must look very stupid, but the rogue Bludger was heavy and couldn't change direction as quickly as Harry could; he began a kind of roller-coaster ride around the edges of the stadium, squinting through the silver sheets of rain to the Gryffindor goal posts, where Adrian Pucey was trying to get past Wood.

A whistling in Harry's ear told him the Bludger had just missed him again; he turned right over and sped in the opposite direction.

"Training for the ballet, Potter?" yelled Malfoy as Harry was forced to do a stupid kind of twirl in mid-air to dodge the Bludger, and he fled, the Bludger trailing a few feet behind him. He gritted his teeth, thinking that if there was anyone he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of it was Draco Malfoy and then, glaring back at Malfoy, he saw it - the Golden Snitch. It was hovering inches above her left ear - and Malfoy, busy laughing at Harry, hadn't seen it.

For an agonizing moment, Harry hung in mid-air, not daring to speed toward Malfoy in case she looked up and saw the Snitch.

WHAM.

He had stayed still a second too long. The Bludger had hit him at last, smashed into his elbow, and Harry felt his arm break. Dimly, dazed by the searing pain in his arm, he slid sideways on his rain-drenched broom, one knee still crooked over it, his right arm dangling useless at his side - the Bludger came pelting back for a second attack, this time aiming at his face. Harry swerved out of the way, one idea firmly lodged in his numb brain: get to Malfoy.

Woods words pounded through his hazy brain. "You have to get the snitch or die trying, Harry."

Through a haze of rain and pain he dived for the golden ball. The sneer on Malfoy's face immediately changed into one of shock as she must have thought Harry was attacking her.

"What the -" she gasped, but was to surprized to careen out of Harry's way.

Harry took his remaining hand off his broom and made a wild snatch; he felt his fingers close on the cold Snitch and accidentally soft hair. The two seekers collided harshly, almost knocking her off her broom and causing Harry's legs to lose their grip on his. There was a yell from the crowd below as they spiralled straight for the ground, the only reason he hadn't passed out yet was the sharp pain of Malfoy's nails digging into his back, her high-pitched scream in his ear and the smell of something sweet and broomsticks from her hair that was blowing into his face.

With a splattering thud they hit the mud. His arm was hanging at a very strange angle; riddled with pain, he heard, as though from a distance, a good deal of whistling and shouting. He focused on the Snitch clutched in his good hand and the heaving of Malfoy's chest in sync with her heavy breathing.

He slowly opened his eyes only to be greeted by a sight full of grass and blond hair. Malfoy was breathing heavily into his ear and he used his good arm to push himself up so he wasn't leaning completely on top of her. When their eyes met he noticed that hers were wide and shocked.

"H-Ha-Have you l-lost your bloody mind, P-Potter?!"

"Aha," he said vaguely with a smile as he showed her the snitch he'd caught. "We've won."

Her eyes turned to slits and she gritted her teeth. Harry felt another harsh pain as her knee connected harshly with his stomach. "Get off of me you scarheaded freak!"

And he fainted.

* * *

><p><strong>Not much to say about this chapter. Quite liked the ending really. It's not really that much different than the original. Only the fact that in the original she does careen out of the way and the two of them don't end up biting the dust together, oh well. <strong>

**You can expect the next chapter either Tuesday or Wednesday. Depending on how much I get finished. (The second and third book may be finished already but I don't want to have uploaded everything without at least having the fourth finished) **

**Btw. Thanks for all the reviews! It might seem a bit cliché but I'm really grateful for all the support AND criticism. It keeps my head on the story and makes me want to keep writing. Plus they give me loads of good ideas!**

**Oh and I've opened a poll. Has nothing to do with the story. Just me being curious. So if you feel like it feel free to vote.**


	6. B2: Skelegro, Revenge and Polyjuice

When he was in the hospital wing not much later Madam Pomfrey assured him that she could regrow the bones that professor Lockhart had so easily gotten rid of while he was knocked out.

"It will be painful," said the witch grimly, throwing Harry a pair of pyjamas. "You'll have to stay the night ..."

Hermione waited outside the curtain drawn around Harry's bed while Ron helped him into his pyjamas. It wasn't until now that he noticed a dark bruise on his chest where he'd presumably landed on Malfoy's brooch. Ron winced at the sight of it while he to stuffed the rubbery, boneless arm into a sleeve.

"How can you stick up for Lockhart now, Hermione, eh?" Ron called through the curtain as he pulled Harry's limp fingers through the cuff. "If Harry had wanted deboning he would have asked. Unless that he couldn't because he was unconscious!"

"Anyone can make a mistake," said Hermione. "And it doesn't hurt anymore, does it, Harry?"

"No," said Harry, getting into bed. "But it doesn't do anything else either."

As he swung himself onto the bed, his arm flapped pointlessly.

Hermione and Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain. Madam Pomfrey was holding a large bottle of something labelled Skele-Gro.

"You're in for a rough night," she said, pouring out a steaming beaker full and handing it to him. "Regrowing bones is a nasty business."

So was taking the Skele-Gro. It burned Harry's mouth and throat as it went down, making him cough and splutter. Still tut-tutting Madam Pomfrey retreated, leaving Ron and Hermione to help Harry gulp down some water.

"We won, though," said Ron, a grin breaking across his face. "That was some catch you made. Malfoy's face... she looked ready to kill…"

"I want to know how she fixed that Bludger," said Hermione darkly.

"We can add that to the list of questions we'll ask her when we've taken the Polyjuice Potion," said Harry, sinking back onto his pillows. "I hope it tastes better than this stuff ..."

"If it's got bits of Slytherins in it? You've got to be joking," said Ron. The door of the hospital wing burst open at that moment. Filthy and soaking wet, the rest of the Gryffindor team had arrived to see Harry. "Unbelievable flying, Harry," said George. "I've just seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy. Something about having the Snitch on top of her head and not noticing. Malfoy didn't seem too happy."

They had brought cakes, sweets, and bottles of pumpkin juice; they gathered around Harry's bed and were just getting started on what promised to be a good party when Madam Pomfrey came storming over, shouting, "This boy needs rest, he's got thirty-three bones to regrow! Out! OUT!" And Harry was left alone, with nothing to distract him from the stabbing pains in his limp arm.

* * *

><p>Dobby visited him that night, confessing that it was him who was responsible for the enchanted bludger and for the fact that Ron and Harry couldn't get through platform 9 ¾.<p>

He told this to Ron and Hermione when they met up in moaning Myrtle's bathroom and Ron even seemed somewhat disappointed that it wasn't Malfoy, who they had been sure was responsible. They were still certain that she was the heir of Slytherin though, even as it turned out she was not responsible for the other two mysterious events. After all, who else could it be?

That's why Harry threw a fire-cracker into the Slytherins cauldron during potions class and when Hermione used the distraction to procure ingredients from Snape's personnel collection they had everything they needed for their polyjuice potion.

It was very necessary.

Harry was pretty sure Malfoy had her mind set on making him pay after the Quidditch-incident. She made a point of glaring at him any time he only did as much as enter the room. Along with that she spent a lot of time walking around with the Slytherin team instead of the usual Crab and Goyle, like she wanted him to be scared that the entire team would pummel him as soon as he turned the corner on his way to charms or potions. He might have been a bit scared of that if he didn't know her better. Of course she got pleasure out of seeing him in physical pain but it wasn't what she was after in the long run.

No- her revenge would probably consist of public humiliation along with physical pain.

It made him wonder if Ron wasn't wrong about his assumption that she had let the monster loose on Colin Creevey in frustration right after the Quidditch match. It was a possibility though since, as Ron said, she had a foul temper.

The possibility that she might have was only one more reason to finish their polyjuice potion as soon as possible. Along with the fact that they now knew that the chamber had been opened before and it could have easily been her father who was the previous person who opened it.

Unluckily for him she got her chance for revenge before he got his chance for answers. And her chance came in the form of a duelling club.

"Miss Malfoy, come over here." Snape said, smiling coldly. "Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, Miss Granger - you can partner Miss Bulstrode."

Bulstrode, a Slytherin girl, reminded Harry of a picture he'd seen in Holidays with Hags. She was large and square and her heavy jaw jutted aggressively. Her hair was short and dark and her eyes were dark and empty. Her tanned hands were rough and as big as two large hams, if she'd been a guy she would have undoubtedly been on the Slytherin Quidditch team.

Hermione gave her a weak smile that she did not return.

Harry almost felt relieved to be duelling Malfoy who seemed almost her complete opposite with her petite build, light colouring and dainty hands. But any relief he could have possibly felt was squashed as she came strutting over, smirking and reminding him that she still had a bone to pick with him.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform. "And bow!"

Harry and Malfoy barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other.

"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents - only to disarm them - we don't want any accidents - one ... two ... three -"

Harry swung his wand high but Malfoy had already started on "two". Her spell hit Harry so hard he felt as though he'd been hit over the head with a saucepan. He stumbled, but everything still seemed to be working, and wasting no more time, Harry pointed his wand straight at Malfoy and shouted, "Rictusempra!"

A jet of silver light hit Malfoy in the stomach and she doubled up, wheezing.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted in alarm over the heads of the battling crowd, as Malfoy sank to her knees; Harry had hit her with a Tickling Charm, and she could barely move from laughing. Harry hung back, slightly taken aback by her loud laughter, and with a vague feeling it would be unsporting to bewitch Malfoy while she was on the floor, but this was a mistake; gasping for breath, Malfoy pointed her wand at Harry's knees, choked, "Tarantallegra!" and the next second Harry's legs began to jerk around out of his control in a kind of quickstep.

"Stop! Stop!" screamed Lockhart, but Snape took charge.

"Finite Incantatem!" he shouted; Harry's feet stopped dancing, Malfoy stopped laughing, and they were able to look up.

A haze of greenish smoke was hovering over the scene. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting; Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, apologizing for whatever his broken wand had done; but Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving; Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Harry leapt forward and pulled Millicent off. It was difficult: She was a lot bigger than he was.

Lockhart skittered through the crowd looking at the aftermath of the duels.

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away. "Let's have a volunteer pair - Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you -"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat.

"Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Neville's round, pink face went pinker. "How about Malfoy and Potter?" said Snape with a twisted smile.

"Excellent idea!" said Lockhart, gesturing Harry and Malfoy into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed away to give them room.

"Now, Harry," said Lockhart. "When Draco points her wand at you, you do this."

"Don't call me by my first name, you overrated incompetent tool." Malfoy barked at him in the background, apparently she didn't like him very much.

Harry's theory that Lockhart only heard what he wanted to hear was seemingly more and more likely as the man just smiled like he hadn't heard anything.

Instead Lockhart just attempted to show Harry a complicated sort of wiggling action with his wand but dropped it. Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, "Whoops -my wand is a little overexcited -"

Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down, and whispered something in her ear. Malfoy smirked, too. Harry looked up nervously at Lockhart and said, "Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?"

"Scared?" Mouthed Malfoy, so that Lockhart couldn't hear her.

"You wish." Mouthed Harry back. A fire igniting in him; he wouldn't allow himself to be shown up, he wasn't very competitive when it came to anyone else but this girl. He just couldn't lose to her.

Lockhart cuffed Harry merrily on the shoulder. "Just do what I did, Harry!"

"What, drop my wand?"

But Lockhart wasn't listening again.

"Three - two - one - go!" he shouted.

Malfoy raised her wand quickly and bellowed, "Serpensortia!"

The end of her wand exploded. Harry watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them, and raised itself, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed away swiftly, clearing the floor.

"Don't move, Potter," said Snape lazily, clearly enjoying the sight of Harry standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake. "I'll get rid of it."

"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart. He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack.

Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight toward Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.

Harry wasn't sure what made him do it. He wasn't even aware of deciding to do it. All he knew was that his legs were carrying him forward as though he was on casters and that he had shouted stupidly at the snake, "Leave him alone!" And miraculously - inexplicably - the snake slumped to the floor, docile as a thick, black garden hose, its eyes now on Harry. Harry felt the fear drain out of him. He knew the snake wouldn't attack anyone now, though how he knew it, he couldn't have explained.

He looked up at Justin, grinning, expecting to see Justin looking relieved, or puzzled, or even grateful - but certainly not angry and scared.

"What do you think you're playing at?" he shouted, and before Harry could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall.

After that entire fiasco the whole school feared Harry for being a parselmouth but even worse, they suspected him of being the heir of Slytherin and being responsible for the attacks that had been happening. This of course only worsened by the fact that it was Harry who found the petrified body of Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly-headless Nick.

He could feel the rage bubble up inside himself every time he saw Malfoy after that, smiling proudly and completely in her element. It was as a result of her stupid spell that everyone walked around him in large arches after all. He was surer than ever that no one but her could be the heir of Slytherin and in a matter of weeks he would hear it from her own lips.

* * *

><p>Nothing could ruin Christmas morning for Harry, not even Draco Malfoy, making loud, snide remarks about his new sweater, now that Hermione told him and Ron that the polyjuice potion was finished and that, since Malfoy was staying in Hogwarts during the holidays and Crabbe and Goyle, who always did whatever Malfoy did, had signed up to stay over the holidays too, this was the best time to take it.<p>

They only had to get some hair from both of them and make sure they didn't come barging in when they were talking to her. When they managed that, took the foul-tasting potion and left Hermione in moaning Myrtle's bathroom, they only had one last problem. Where was the Slytherin common room?

They went down the marble staircase. All they needed now was a Slytherin who they could follow to the Slytherin common room, but there was nobody around.

"Any ideas?" muttered Harry.

"The Slytherins always come up to breakfast from over there," said Ron, nodding at the entrance to the dungeons. The words had barely left his mouth when a girl with long, curly hair emerged from the entrance.

"Excuse me," said Ron, hurrying up to her. "We've forgotten the way to our common room."

"I beg your pardon?" said the girl stiffly. "Our common room? I'm a Ravenclaw."

She walked away, looking suspiciously back at them.

Harry and Ron hurried down the stone steps into the darkness, their footsteps echoing particularly loudly as Crabbe's and Goyle's huge feet hit the floor, feeling that this wasn't going to be as easy as they had hoped.

The labyrinthine passages were deserted. They walked deeper and deeper under the school, constantly checking their watches to see how much time they had left. After a quarter of an hour, just when they were getting desperate, they heard a sudden movement ahead.

"Ha!" said Ron excitedly. "There's one of them now!"

The figure was emerging from a side room. As they hurried nearer, however, their hearts sank. It wasn't a Slytherin, it was Percy.

"What're you doing down here?" said Ron in surprise.

Percy looked affronted.

"That," he said stiffly, "is none of your business. It's Crabbe, isn't it?"

"Wh - oh, yeah," said Ron.

"Well, get off to your dormitories," said Percy sternly. "It's not safe to go wandering around dark corridors these days."

"You are," Ron pointed out.

"I," said Percy, drawing himself up, "am a prefect. Nothing's about to attack me."

A voice suddenly echoed behind Harry and Ron. Draco Malfoy was strolling towards them, and for the first time in his life, Harry was pleased to see her.

"There you are," she drawled, looking at them. "Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? I would have thought you'd returned to the common room by now. Anyway let's go I want to show you something really funny."

It's only then that she seemed to notice Percy standing there and glanced witheringly at him. It looked quite comical as the top of her head didn't even reach his shoulder.

"And what're you doing down here, Weasley?" She sneered.

Percy looked outraged.

"You want to show a bit more respect to a school prefect!" he said. "I don't like your attitude!"

Malfoy sneered and motioned for Harry and Ron to follow her. Harry almost said something apologetic to Percy but caught himself just in time. He and Ron hurried after Malfoy, who said as they turned into the next passage, "That Peter Weasley -"

"Percy," Ron corrected her automatically.

"Whatever," said Malfoy, waving her hand dismissively. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed."

She gave a short, derisive laugh. Harry and Ron exchanged excited looks.

Malfoy paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall.

She tugged at Harry's tie. Like he'd seen her do numerous times with the Slytherin boys and he quickly bent down a little. "What's the new password again?" She asked him when he was on her level.

"Er -" said Harry.

"Oh, yeah -pure-blood!" said Malfoy, not listening, and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open. Malfoy released Harry's tie and marched through it, Harry and Ron followed quickly behind her.

"I'll talk to you later. I need a shower."

Harry panicked, they didn't have time to wait until she got back, he had to find something to make her stay so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "What do you need a shower for?"

"What do you think idiot? I already told you I didn't have time to go running last night so I had to this morning." She motioned down to her clothes and Harry wondered why he hadn't noticed before that instead of her uniform, she was wearing what looked like running clothes.

He'd seen her wear them before on numerous occasions, it wasn't a secret that Draco Malfoy always went jogging either just after dinner or at the crack of dawn. Through the window of his dormitory he'd often seen her do her run. He guessed that as vain as she was it was quite natural she found it important to stay in shape.

She turned around to walk away again and in his alarm he grabbed her thin wrist firmly in his own beefy hand. "You were going to show us something."

She stared quite stupidly at his hand on her wrist before blinking up to his face. "Oh, that's right. Now get your blubber off of me before you lose it." She snapped. "Wait here, I'll go and get it, my father just sent it to me."

Harry and Ron exchanged glances. Wondering what Malfoy was going to show them, they sat down, doing their best to look at home.

* * *

><p>Haha, I'm late I guess ;p Normally this doesn't happen but I've been very busy. I live with my grandmother you see and she's been in the hospital for the last four days (Nothing serious). I didn't even have time to write anything Ö But no worries I still have plenty of reserve chapters. So a bit of slacking is still alright for now.<p>

Making slow on book 4. This is where the shift in their relationship is going to start and it's going to be continued all throughout book 5. Plans for book 5 still a bit blurry though. Book 4 is already all planned out.

Because I was late you can expect another chapter tomorrow or maybe today(depending on where you live). It's 1 a.m. on a Friday night where I live(Belgium) and I have to get up really early tomorrow (5.30 a.m.) So I need to go to sleep. But expect a new chapter soon!


	7. B2: Narrow escape, Valentine and Neville

Malfoy came back a minute later, holding what looked like a newspaper clipping. She flopped down on the loveseat across from them and thrust it under Ron's nose who took it from her sheepishly.

She leaned back and lay down with her head lying flat on the right cushion and her legs hanging limply from the left armrest. "That'll give you a laugh," She said as she brought her hands under her head and her bored eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Harry saw Ron's eyes widen in shock. He read the clipping quickly, gave a very forced laugh, and handed it to Harry.

It had been clipped out of the Daily Prophet, and it said:

INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

_Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car._

_Mr Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr Weasley's resignation._

_"Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute," Mr Malfoy told our reporter. "He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately."_

_Mr Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told reporters to clear off or she'd set the family ghoul on them._

"Well?" said Malfoy impatiently as Harry laid the piece of paper down on the table separating them from her. "Don't you think it's funny?"

"Ha, ha," said Harry bleakly.

"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," said Malfoy scornfully. "You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave."

Ron's - or rather, Crabbe's - face was contorted with fury and Malfoy's legs, which she had been absentmindedly swinging over the armrest almost like a child would, now stopped as she glanced at him.

"What's up with you, Crabbe?" She snapped.

"Stomachache," Ron grunted.

"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," said Malfoy, snickering and her legs picked the swinging again. "You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet," she went on thoughtfully. "I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never have let slime like that Creevey in."

Malfoy started taking pictures with an imaginary camera, a cruel but accurate impression of Colin: "Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?"' Malfoy blew some hair out of her face and continued with amusement in her voice. "Or another part of your body."

Harry almost chocked in surprise and embarrassment.

She dropped her hands and looked at Harry and Ron.

"What's the matter with you two?"

Far too late, Harry and Ron forced themselves to laugh, but Malfoy seemed satisfied; perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were always slow on the uptake.

"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," said Malfoy slowly, as if in thought. "He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped up Mudblood Granger. And people think he's Slytherin's heir because for some reason he can chitchat with snakes!"

Harry and Ron waited with bated breath: Malfoy was surely seconds away from telling them it was her - but then "I wish I knew who it is," said Malfoy petulantly. "I could help them."

Ron's jaw dropped so that Crabbe looked even more clueless than usual. Fortunately, Malfoy didn't notice, and Harry, thinking fast, said, "You must have some idea who's behind it all-"

"You know I haven't, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you?" snapped Malfoy. "And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing - last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them is killed this time… I hope it's Granger," she said with relish.

Ron was clenching Crabbe's gigantic fists. Feeling that it would be a bit of a giveaway if Ron punched Malfoy, Harry shot him a warning look and said, "D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?"

"Oh, yeah ... whoever it was, was expelled," said Malfoy. "They're probably still in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" said Harry, puzzled.

"Azkaban - the wizard prison, Goyle," said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward."

She shifted a bit restlessly from her lying position in the chair and said, "Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course I know why's he really saying that. He wouldn't be saying that if I was a man, then he'd probably be telling me it was my duty as a Malfoy to help whoever is doing this. On top of that he's still angry because Slytherin lost the match against Gryffindor, even after he bought all of us those new brooms. I told him it was all Potter's fault but of course he wouldn't listen. He never does. He even forbade my mother to send me any of my Christmas presents." Her arms were crossed over her chest defiantly and her gaze at the ceiling turned almost murderous before she closed her eyes and sighed. "Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. Since the ministry raided our house."

Harry tried to force Goyle's dull face into a look of concern.

"Yeah..." said Malfoy. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor -"

"Ho!" said Ron.

Malfoy looked at him. So did Harry. Her look at him was suspicious but eventually she fixed her eyes on the ceiling again. "This would be the best time to do something to would please him. Ma-"

But Malfoy stopped midsentence as Miles Bletchley, a 4th year and the Slytherin keeper, walked in through the stone door. When he noticed the three of them he walked towards them.

Malfoy cursed under her breath and rolled her eyes, annoyed.

"How is the prettiest girl in the entire school doing?" He said with a wink as he looked down at Malfoy lying on the couch. "You have to tell me how you got so beautiful."

Malfoy simply shrugged. "I must've been given your share."

Harry had to stifle a snigger at the boy's face but to the Slytherins defence he recovered quickly and motioned for the seat Malfoy's legs were lying on. "Is this seat free?"

"They'll both be if you sit down." Malfoy muttered under her breath but the boy only laughed.

"That's alright. I only wanted to ask you something really quick. My parents will be returning from a business trip the last Saturday of the Christmas holidays and I've gotten special permission from Dumbledore to visit them. How about the two of us use it instead to go someplace?"

"Sorry, I'm having a headache that weekend." She came back with her lazy drawl.

"Come on Malfoy don't be so cold. I can tell you want me."

"Sure," She said with an elegant lift of an eyebrow. "I want you to sod off, Bletchley."

"I could make you very happy. Girls I approach practically faint at the sight of me."

She sat up, apparently to annoyed by his presents to peacefully lay down anymore. "The fainting has a lot to do with your bad breath. The only way you'd make me happy is by eating a few packs of breath-mints and brushing your teeth daily." She bit at him. Then she stood up and marched off while muttering under her breath. "What am I? Flypaper for people with a room temperature IQ? Lousy prat."

The older boy yelled after her in a last attempt to change her mind, "You look ace in those running shorts." But she paid him no mind as she marched up the stairs that probably lead to the girls' dorms.

Both Harry and Ron had to repress a laugh at the look on the boy's face at least until Harry noticed that Ron's hair was turning red. His nose was also slowly lengthening - their hour was up, Ron was turning back into himself, and from the look of horror he was suddenly giving Harry, he must be, too.

"I can't believe her sometimes. Drives me crazy, she does. Though that only makes me want it more. Guess it's the same for you two-" Bletchley said almost absentmindedly as he kept staring at the direction she'd just vanished too.

But Ron and Harry weren't listening to him. They both jumped to their feet and without further ado they sprinted the length of the Slytherin common room, hurled themselves at the stone wall, and dashed up the passage, hoping against hope that Bletchley hadn't noticed anything. Harry could feel his feet slipping around in Goyle's huge shoes and had to hoist up his robes as he shrank; they crashed up the steps into the dark entrance hall, which was full of a muffled pounding coming from the closet where they'd locked Crabbe and Goyle. Leaving their shoes outside the closet door, they sprinted in their socks up the marble staircase toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"Well, it wasn't a complete waste of time," Ron said panting but still with a smile on his face. "I know we still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoys' drawing room."

Harry checked his face in the cracked mirror. He was back to normal. He put his glasses on as Ron hammered on the door of Hermione's stall.

* * *

><p>Perhaps the Heir of Slytherin had lost his nerve, thought Harry. Since there had been no more victims. It must be getting riskier and riskier to open the Chamber of Secrets, with the school so alert and suspicious. Perhaps the monster, whatever it was, was even settling itself down to hibernate for another fifty years ...<p>

Gilderoy Lockhart seemed to think he himself had made the attacks stop. Harry overheard him telling Professor McGonagall so while the Gryffindors were lining up for Transfiguration.

"I don't think there'll be any more trouble, Minerva," he said, tapping his nose knowingly and winking. "I think the Chamber has been locked for good this time. The culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on him - You know, what the school needs now is a morale-booster. Wash away the memories of last term! I won't say any more just now, but I think I know just the thing . . ."

He tapped his nose again and strode off.

Lockhart's idea of a morale-booster became clear at breakfast time on February fourteenth. Harry hadn't had much sleep because of a late- running Quidditch practice the night before, and he hurried down to the Great Hall, slightly late. He thought, for a moment, that he'd walked through the wrong doors.

The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. Harry went over to the Gryffindor table, where Ron was sitting looking sickened, and Hermione seemed to have been overcome with giggles. He glanced around the room to see most boys wearing the same expression as Ron did and the girls looking delighted at the change of scenery, maybe with the exception of Draco Malfoy who looked most disgusted of all.

"What's going on?" Harry asked them, sitting down and wiping confetti off his bacon.

Ron pointed to the teachers' table, apparently too disgusted to speak. Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, was waving for silence. The teachers on either side of him were looking stony-faced. From where he sat, Harry could see a muscle going in Professor McGonagall's cheek. Snape looked as though someone had just fed him a large beaker of Skele-Gro.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all - and it doesn't end here!"

Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.

"Please, Hermione, tell me you weren't one of the forty-six," said Ron as they left the Great Hall for their first lesson. Hermione suddenly became very interested in searching her bag for her schedule and didn't answer.

All day long, the dwarfs kept barging into their classes to deliver valentines, to the annoyance of the teachers, and late that afternoon as the Gryffindors were walking upstairs for Charms, one of the dwarfs caught up with Harry.

"Oy, you! 'Arty Potter!" shouted a particularly grim-looking dwarf, elbowing people out of the way to get to Harry.

Hot all over at the thought of being given a valentine in front of a line of first years, which happened to include Ginny Weasley, Harry tried to escape. The dwarf, however, cut his way through the crowd by kicking people's shins, and reached him before he'd gone two paces.

"I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person," he said, twanging his harp in a threatening sort of way.

"Not here," Harry hissed, trying to escape.

"Stay still!" grunted the dwarf, grabbing hold of Harry's bag and pulling him back.

"Let me go!" Harry snarled, tugging.

With a loud ripping noise, his bag split in two. His books, wand, parchment, and quill spilled onto the floor and his ink bottle smashed over everything.

Harry scrambled around, trying to pick it all up before the dwarf started singing, causing something of a holdup in the corridor.

"What's going on here?" came the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy who was passing by and now came to see what was going on. This had to be the worst possible scenario. Everyone, anyone but Draco Malfoy. Just _not_ her. Harry started stuffing everything feverishly into his ripped bag, desperate to get away before Malfoy could hear his musical valentine.

"What's all this commotion?" said another familiar voice as Percy Weasley arrived.

Losing his head, Harry tried to make a run for it, but the dwarf seized him around the knees and brought him crashing to the floor.

"Right," he said, sitting on Harry's ankles." Here is your singing valentine:

His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,

His hair is as dark as a blackboard.

I wish he was mine,

he's really divine,

The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.

Harry would have given all the gold in Gringotts to evaporate on the spot. He couldn't believe it in front of all of those people worst of all including Draco Malfoy. Trying valiantly to laugh along with everyone else, he got up, his feet numb from the weight of the dwarf, as Percy Weasley did his best to disperse the crowd, some of whom were crying with mirth.

"Off you go, off you go, the bell rang five minutes ago, off to class, now," he said, shooing some of the younger students away. "And you, Malfoy-"

Harry, glancing over, still red in the face from embarrassment, saw Malfoy stoop and snatch up something. Leering, she showed it to Crabbe and Goyle, and Harry realized that she was holding Riddle's diary. The diary that even though empty had drawn Harry to it from the moment he found it in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"Give that back," said Harry quietly.

"Wonder what Potter's written in this?" said Malfoy, who obviously hadn't noticed the year on the cover and thought she had Harry's own diary. A hush fell over the onlookers. Ginny was staring from the diary to Harry, looking terrified. "Could have guessed that little girl Potter would have a diary."

"Hand it over, Malfoy," said Percy sternly.

"When I've had a look," said Malfoy with a smile, waving the diary tauntingly at Harry.

Percy said, "As a school prefect -" but Harry had lost his temper. He pulled out his wand and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" and just as Snape had disarmed Lockhart, so Malfoy found the diary shooting out of her hand into the air. Ron, grinning broadly, caught it.

"Harry!" said Percy loudly. "No magic in the corridors. I'll have to report this, you know!"

But Harry didn't care, he was one-up on Malfoy, and that was worth five points from Gryffindor any day.

Malfoy was looking furious, and as Ginny passed her to enter her classroom, she yelled spitefully after her, "I don't think Potter liked your valentine much!"

Ginny covered her face with her hands and ran into class. Snarling, Ron pulled out his wand, too, but Harry pulled him away. Ron didn't need to spend the whole of Charms belching slugs.

* * *

><p>Harry wasn't able to live down his embarrassment for the rest of the day. The whole valentine's-day theme followed him everywhere he went, he just couldn't seem to escape from it.<p>

Fred and George weren't making it any easier for that matter, as they had taken to following him around singing, "His eyes are as green as a pickled toad" continuously.

Strangely enough he was sort of relieved they had a double potion that day. Surely there could not be one place in the world less about Valentine's-day then Snape's dungeon. At least there he would not, could not be bothered by anything even remotely pink or heart-shaped.

At least that's what he thought, before he remembered who he shared potions with. He'd seen her smile far too gleefully when he walked into the dungeon and only two minutes after he sat down a charmed note flew over to his table where it unfolded. He'd seen it done plenty of times. A lot of girls used it to share secrets and giggle during glasses or just random students passing notes but above all he'd seen it used by Draco Malfoy who constantly was sending these little flying notes to the rest of her Slytherin gang.

He didn't even need to look at the handwriting to know it was hers.

And the content too was exactly what he taught it would be. A taunt aimed at him focusing on the rather embarrassing musical-Valentine that was so publicly delivered to him.

He crumpled the piece of parchment into a ball and looked over his shoulder to throw her a dirty look. She only returned it with a confident smirk of her own.

For the remainder of the lesson he was assaulted by a barrage of taunting notes most of which flew against his head unceremoniously before landing gracefully on his desk.

He might never send notes like that but he knew the basic spells behind it. They weren't _that _difficult to control. Not at all. After a while he just stopped reading them but it didn't stop them from coming in the least.

That was at least until twenty minutes until the end of period when someone knocked on the door.

Snape looked up quickly, his dark look apparently suggesting he was not expecting visitors nor did he appreciate visitors. "Enter." He said sharply, nevertheless.

A dwarf came waddling in when the door opened carrying pink basket full of letters.

"Valentine delivery service." He said gruffly. "I'm looking for Draco Malfoy."

The girl immediately turned three sheets paler.

She got over her surprise rather quickly and jumped on her feet. "I-I don't want them!" She barked. "Take those out of my sight!"

"Oh you'll take them." The dwarf said while waddling in her direction.

"Don't waste my time with that cheap sentimental nonsense!" She bit at it and then threw professor Snape a pleading look. Certainly he couldn't approve of this.

The potions professor didn't look pleased at all but if the girl had wished for his help she was surely mistaken. "Make it quick, Miss Malfoy." He simply said. "I have _no_ time for this."

Malfoy said down again in defeat and stretched her hand out, gruffly waiting for the dwarf to it over.

Instead the dwarf just waddled inside her and dumped the entire contents of his basket on her table. Some of them seemed to be enchanted as they could softly hear muffled music coming from inside of pile. She looked beyond mortified and disgusted with the pile of sugary sweet pink love letters on her desk.

"Would you like me to summarize those for you?" The dwarf asked.

"No, I do _NOT_." She hissed through her teeth.

The dwarf only shrugged before wobbling back out of the classroom. Snape only continued with his lesson as usual although Harry could have sworn he looked slightly more disgusted than usual.

Nobody laughed, simply got back to their business. If it had been anybody else Harry might have felt sorry for that person but because it was Draco Malfoy Harry glimpsed at her again. She caught his taunting look immediately, her hand clenched, causing one of the envelope's to get crumpled.

Satisfied he turned backed to the yellowish potion in the cauldron he, Ron and Hermione were working on.

"I can't believe there are some poor sod's in this school crazy enough to send a Valentineday's note to _Malfoy._" Ron said. "You've got to pity 'em. Even if they're Slytherins."

"Shh Ron!" Hermione hissed and then continued in a whisper. "Not _all_ of the boys who sent Malfoy a card are Slytherins."

"What do you mean shush?" Ron asked, offended. "Alright maybe a lone Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw _might_ have send a card but surely no Gryffindor would-"

He looked at Hermione who was adding some crushed goblin bones to their potion.

"What do you know that you are not telling us Hermione?" Ron asked. Harry had stopped chopping the Benzoinleaves, now too interested in what Hermione had been hiding from them.

"Oh fine." Hermione said with a sigh, motioning for them to come closer and lowering her voice. "But the two of you have to swear no to tell anybody."

Both boys nodded and drew closer, anxious for her answer.

"Well-" She started nervously. "It's Neville. I'm pretty sure he's had a crush on her for ages now. But don't go telling anybody. Either of you. And no talking to him either, he's really embarrassed about it."

Ron looked exasperated. "Neville? But she's always ridiculing him, taunting him. Why's he got to be bonkers about her of all people? She nearly enjoys pestering him as much as she does us."

All three of them glanced at Neville who did look a bit more red-faced than usual and who's hands were shaking quite a bit more than they normally did when cutting ingredients. Harry did feel a bit sorry for him, he was a great guy but the thought of him ever getting together with Malfoy was downright laughable. Almost like picturing a docile toad falling in love with a poodle. Or a pit-bull. Or maybe some weir cross between the two.

She'd shred him apart in a matter of seconds.

But maybe Neville didn't know that. Or maybe he didn't care. Because over the last twenty minutes of class he saw the boy glance over at her periodically causing him to be distracted and to make a lot of mistakes.

Malfoy didn't bother him for the rest of the lesson and soon enough potions was over and everyone started packing up their things.

"Watch where you're going Longbottom!" Harry suddenly heard from behind him and turned out to see what was happening.

Malfoy was standing with her hands poised on her hips and her face twisted in annoyance. He tried to stammer something, probably an apology but he only produced a series of short choking noises. Malfoy stared incredulous at him but it didn't take long for her to lose her patience.

"Out of my way blighter." She groaned as she shoved him aside and stormed past him.

As he, Ron and Hermione walked out Neville Ron whispered. "Absolutely Bonkers, that one."

Harry went to bed before anyone else in his dormitory that night. This was partly because he didn't think he could stand Fred and George singing, "His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad" one more time.

It was also because of this incident that he discovered how Riddle's diary worked. And it revealed to him what had happened fifty years diary confirmed Hermione's suspicion that he had won his medal by capturing the Slytherin's heir. But Harry couldn't believe it was Hagrid.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes I know. Lies. Horrible lies. ;( I have no excuse for being late again. According to plan I upload one chapter every three days. But I'm running one chapter behind. So this chapter should have been uploaded Saturday. And the next one today. So I'll try and upload a new one tomorrow and then just wait until Friday so I'm back on schedule.<strong>

**BTW I added the last part of this chapter on a whim. Meh.**

**Fun fact: Don't know if I already mentioned this but I actually thought of this while reading some random fic someone sent me about Neville and Draco. Random.**


	8. B2: The Brooch

Book 2: Chapter 5: The Brooch

It was May, almost three months since they'd found out about Hagrid, almost five months since anyone had been petrified and everything had almost gone back to normal. Nearly everybody seemed to think that the attacker, whoever it was, had retired for good. Peeves had finally got bored of his "Oh, Potter, you rotter" song, Ernie Macmillan asked Harry quite politely to pass a bucket of leaping toadstools in Herbology one day, and in March several of the Mandrakes had thrown a loud and raucous party in greenhouse three. This had made Professor Sprout very happy.

There had been no more strange incidents and the second year students were all far too preoccupied with choosing their new classes for their third year to really pay attention to much else, including Harry.

Well at least until Harry returned from Quidditch practice, the Saturday before their last game against Hufflepuff only to find a frantic Neville Longbottom at the top of the stairs to the dormitory.

Someone had searched through Harry's things but nothing was missing except Riddle's diary. Harry had a bad feeling about the whole thing, mainly because only a Gryffindor could have possibly taken it.

It was only the morning after that when he heard the mysterious voice again, confusing Harry even more.

Apparently Hermione didn't have the same problem, as she immediately excused herself and rushed to the library.

He wondered how he could possibly keep his mind on the Quidditch game after that. But as it turned out he didn't have too, as he was just mounting his broom when Professor McGonagall came half marching, half running across the pitch, carrying an enormous purple megaphone.

Harry's heart dropped like a stone when she announced that the match would be cancelled but not as much as it did when he found out Hermione had been attacked by the monster.

It was the end to the short time of peace they'd had. Hagrid was arrested, Dumbledore suspended and strict new rules were put into place to make sure no student would fall prey to the monster again.

With Dumbledore gone, fear had spread as never before, so that the sun warming the castle walls outside seemed to stop at the mullioned windows. There was barely a face to be seen in the school that didn't look worried and tense, and any laughter that rang through the corridors sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled.

One person, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere of terror and suspicion. Draco Malfoy was strutting around the school as though she had just been appointed Head Girl. Harry didn't realize what she was so pleased about until the Potions lesson about two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid had left, when, sitting right behind Malfoy, Harry overheard her gloating to Crabbe and Goyle.

"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," she said, not troubling to keep his voice down. "I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in..."

Snape swept past Harry, making no comment about Hermione's empty seat and cauldron.

"Sir," said Malfoy loudly, voice sugary sweet. "Sir, why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?"

"Now, now, Malfoy," said Snape, though he couldn't suppress a thin-lipped smile. "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Yeah, right," said Malfoy, smirking and inspecting her nails. "I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job - I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir-"

Snape smirked as he swept off around the dungeon, fortunately not spotting Seamus Finnegan, who was pretending to vomit into his cauldron.

"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger-"

The bell rang at that moment, which was lucky; at Malfoy's last words, Ron had leapt off his stool, and in the scramble to collect bags and books, his attempts to reach Malfoy went unnoticed.

Malfoy collected her things as calmly as ever, book bag casually swung over her shoulder. She flicked her long, light hair casually over her shoulder, acting as if she didn't even notice Ron who seemed about ready to wring her neck.

She barely gave the redhead a glance until she was walking right past him but when she glanced at him however she stopped and gave him a sickly sweet smile. "What's the matter Weasel? Missing your little Mudblood girlfriend already?"

Harry didn't know what Ron would have done if the second year Slytherin boys weren't crowding around her like a bunch of bodyguards on a mission. They laughed and snorted at her comment as they left. Harry even heard one offer to carry her bag as they rounded the corner.

Ron was livid. He continued to cuss and curse for a good ten minutes before he finally calmed down a bit, even after that it took four more hours until he could stop raving on about what a git she really was. "Who does she think is? The Slytherin bloody queen?! She might as well be, judging by the way the Slytherin boys trail after her and drool. It's disgusting, really. She treats them like crap and they still do everything she asks. They carry her books, write her homework, take notes for her. It's bollocks. She doesn't even spare them a glance. And what for? She's got a face like a troll."

Harry knew that wasn't actually true. He knew it and Ron knew it too. Seriously there probably wasn't anyone in Hogwarts who didn't know. But judging by Ron's face right now he wasn't about to admit it and Harry wasn't about to point it out to him.

"The only reason they really trail behind her is because the other Slytherin girls are even worse."

Harry almost laughed at that, because that was definitely true. The Slytherin girls were very recognisable; they all wore their school uniform skirts so short that they had to hold them when they walked up the stairs, always wore high heels under their uniform, wore a lot of make-up and flashy jewellery. They seemed to all have a certain vanity to them. But despite all this Malfoy was probably one of the few Slytherin girls with natural beauty.

Pansy was ringleader of the second year girls and she was a very obvious Malfoy fan. Almost hero-worshipping the other girl. Yet Malfoy only seemed annoyed by the girl and was never seen talking more than necessary with any of the Slytherin girls.

They could be found cluttered together in hallways gossiping and making shallow remarks about other girls. Their mocking giggles always made Harry think they were talking about him and thus they made him extremely uncomfortable. Malfoy had that particular power too of course but apparently found herself above gossiping with the petty commoners in corridors or during classes. Then again one mocking glance, taunting smile or jeer from her was enough to make him feel overly subconscious all day.

Still she was hardly the type to join them in giggling and talking about how Hannah Abbott's shoes were an enormous fashion faux pas. Nor would she ever be found dead wearing that 'clownish-sort-of-makeup' or wearing a short so skirt it would shame her 'pristine' and 'honourable' family.

After all nobody from a respectable family could show herself walking around as anything but perfectly respectable. (Although of course this didn't mean she still wore it a lot shorter than for instance Hermione did)

Ron calmed down eventually though. And the girl was only brought up once more by Ernie McMillan who apparently had reached the same conclusion Ron, Harry and Hermione had once that she was the most likely person to be the heir of Slytherin. Harry and Ron both knew better by now.

That same night Harry and Ron met their main suspect, Aragog the spider, in the hidden forest and were once again caught completely off guard when it turned out not only Draco Malfoy but also Hagrid's pet monster spider had nothing to do with this entire thing.

Only when they have escaped the spiders and had returned to their dormitories, not without help from Mr Weasleys' enchanted car, could Harry make sense of what Aragog said.

The muggleborn who had been killed by the monster fifty years ago had been killed in a bathroom. But what if she never left?

* * *

><p>Ron and Harry speculated about ways to enter Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and question her about her death. With nod good ideas, they headed to class, only to be informed by Professor McGonagall that exams would take place in a week. Nobody had studied, of course, so everybody was in uproar.<p>

Three days before the first exam, Professor McGonagall announced that the Mandrakes were ready to be cut and used to restore the petrified victims. Although Harry and Ron were just as delighted as everybody was, if not more, they still decided to cut class to visit moaning Myrtle.

Or at least that was the plan until they ran into professor McGonagall in the hallway.

"Potter! Weasley! What are you doing?"

It was Professor McGonagall, and her mouth was the thinnest of thin lines.

"We were -we were-" Ron stammered. Trying to find an excuse that didn't involve telling her they were planning on going to moaning myrtle because she might have been killed by the Slytherin beast. "We were going to - to go and see -"

"Hermione," lied Harry. Ron and Professor McGonagall both looked at him.

"We haven't seen her for ages, Professor," Harry went on hurriedly, treading on Ron's foot, "and we thought we'd sneak into the hospital wing, you know, and tell her the Mandrakes are nearly ready and, er, not to worry -"

Professor McGonagall was still staring at him, and for a moment, Harry thought she was going to explode, but when she spoke, it was in a strangely croaky voice.

"Of course," she said, and Harry, amazed, saw a tear glistening in her beady eye. "Of course, I realize this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been ... I quite understand. Yes, Potter, of course you may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Sprout where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission."

Harry and Ron walked away, hardly daring to believe that they'd avoided detention. As they turned the corner, they distinctly heard Professor McGonagall blow her nose.

"That," said Ron fervently, "was the best story you've ever come up with."

They had no choice now but to go to the hospital wing and tell Madam Pomfrey that they had Professor McGonagall's permission to visit Hermione.

Madam Pomfrey let them in, but reluctantly.

"There's just no point talking to a Petrified person." she said, and they had to admit she had a point when they'd taken their seats next to Hermione. It was plain that Hermione didn't have the faintest inkling that she had visitors, and that they might just as well tell her bedside cabinet not to worry for all the good it would do.

"Wonder if she did see the attacker, though?" said Ron, looking sadly at Hermione's rigid face. "Because if he sneaked up on them all, no one'll ever know."

But Harry wasn't looking at Hermione's face. He was more interested in her right hand. It lay clenched on top of her blankets, and bending closer, he saw that there was something inside her fist.

Making sure that Madam Pomfrey was nowhere near, he pointed this out to Ron.

"Get it out," Ron whispered, shifting his chair so that he blocked Harry from Madam Pomfrey's view.

It was no easy task. While Ron kept watch he tugged and twisted, and at last, after several tense minutes, it came free.

It was a silver snake brooch with a large, blue Sapphire in the middle and Harry's eyes glinted in recognition.

"What's that?" Ron whispered as he leaned in towards Harry. "It doesn't tell us anything about the chamber of secrets. Does it?"

"No," Said Harry, as he stared at the jewellery in his hands. "it doesn't. But I might know somebody who might. Come on."

"Where are we going?" Ron asked as they ran down the stairs.

"To the history of magic classroom." Harry said. "Now hurry up Ron! It's almost break time."

"Why are we going to professor Binns' class? Do you think he bored moaning myrtle to death? It would sort of make sense."

"Think about it Ron. Where have you seen this pin before?"

"I don't bloody know, Harry. What do I know about jewellery and stuff like that?"

"Remember our Quidditch match against Slytherin? When you had to help me change because my arms was… deboned." Harry still couldn't say that word without shuddering at the memory. "I had a bruise on my chest and that bruise came from this." Harry motioned to the brooch.

It took Ron a couple of seconds to process the information before his mouth fell open. "Malfoy?! I knew she just had to have something to do with this! I knew it!"

Just as he said this and the classroom was in sight the booming bell sounded throughout the castle and across the lawns to signal the end of class.

"Quick in here." Harry said as they both hid around the corner of a corridor that no student ever went in since it led only to the faculty room, so nobody would see them hanging around a classroom while they were supposedly visiting Hermione.

Mere seconds after the sound stopped booming did the door fly open and several Slytherins practically shot out of the room. Harry couldn't blame them. He'd never had a teacher as boring as professor Bins was. Followed by those Slytherins were a cluster of Ravenclaw girls chatting happily about the lesson.

"-no idea. Wasn't it interesting?" A Ravenclaw girl said almost dreamily.

"Figures only a Ravenclaw could find his lessons interesting." Ron muttered.

The Ravenclaw girls were followed by several group of Ravenclaw boys and a group of shattering Slytherin girls.

"Studied here with Artemisia Lufkin." Malfoy scoffed as she left the classroom last with Crab and Goyle on either side. "He's so ancient there probably wasn't even a history of magic when he studied here."

"There she is." Ron said. "Now what?"

Harry honestly didn't know, he knew this was probably their best, if not only, chance they were going to get. Once they left this corridor and got near to the stairs there would be to many students to talk to her inconspicuously. They had to do something before she got too far and preferably without Crabbe or Goyle getting in the way.

"Wingardium Leviosa." Harry whispered and pointed it at Malfoy's wand that was sticking out of the pocket of her cloak. The wand hovered carefully out of the pocket and fell on the ground with a clatter before it rolled back towards the history of magic classroom and the corner which Harry and Ron were hiding behind.

Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy turned their head at the sound but with an inclination of the head Malfoy motioned for them to go ahead without her. Harry could have cried in relief.

Harry and Ron waited anxiously for her to get near enough to pick her wand up and then quickly pulled her around the corner.

Her first reaction was to stiffen from shock although that seemed to pass quickly as she dug her heel fiercely into Ron's foot, who was standing behind her and bit down hard on Harry's hand, that was covering her mouth.

With a yelp both of them let her go and she took three steps back as quick as lightning. "Potter! Weasel! Have you lost your bleeding mind?! And give me my wand!" The last part was directed towards Ron, who was in fact holding it.

"Not until you give us some answers Malfoy." Ron sneered.

She made a grab for her wand but Ron held it teasingly above her head. Malfoy, despite being almost 13, was still a good inch under 5 feet. Ron, who was one of the tallest boys of their year, easily reached 5 feet 6 inches. If she jumped she could grab it but by that time Ron would have already pulled it out of her reach. She looked ready to blow a gasket but didn't reach for it again.

"What do you know about the chamber of secrets?" Harry asked.

"Nothing." Malfoy scoffed, arms folded over her chest.

"Then why did I find this in Hermione's hand?" He said and pulled the brooch from his pocket.

But she didn't even glance at it.

"I don't know. It's not mine. I've never seen it before."

Harry could have screamed. He knew it was hers but she was too stubborn to just tell him what he wanted to know. She was so infuriating! This was getting them nowhere. He needed her to tell them. "Really? Then you won't mind if I give this to Ron?"

At this Malfoy did react. Her eyes flashed from the brooch to Ron and back. For a second she managed to bite her tong but this didn't last long. She quickly snatched it out of Harry's hand. "Have you lost your bleeding mind, Potter? Give this to Weasel?! Don't you have any idea what this is?! This is a Malfoy heirloom! Replacing the Sapphire would cost more than they earn in a lifetime! It's worth more than his life!" At this she pointed an accusing finger at Ron. "It would be the most meaningful thing he'd ever do if he could do as much as touch this!"

"Yet Hermione touched it." Harry said. "You gave it to her."

Malfoy's face twisted in distaste. "I did not."

"You're right." Harry agreed with her. "You wouldn't have given it to her and she wouldn't have stolen it. So what happened?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay so here we have an entire chapter of meh. And it may seem strange that the Neville-issue was never brought up again. It will be touched upon again (book 3 or 4 not sure anymore which one) but it's not really vital to the story.<strong>

**This chapter also gives a bit more insight in the relationships inside the Slytherin second years. I have a very clear vision of how I see them all interacting and what is their typical group behaviour but I find it very difficult to incorporate in the story. I've already tried multiple times to just add in some more detailed information about them but it always seems out of place.**

**If I try to write a separate scene which shows a lot of the Slytherins personality and relationships within the group than the scene just seems highly unnecessary and out of place. Just a scene of Slytherins talking without revealing relevant information just seems-odd. As I said I've revealed a bit information about the Slytherin girls but it just breaks up the story a bit and seems really misplaced.**

**Oh well. I needed to get it in somewhere.**

**It might seem odd to everyone that Malfoy would not join the girls in gossiping and lashing at people in their school but here's how I see it. The Slytherin girls are all extremely shallow and not really that bright their idea of social climbing would be entirely different than the social climbing Malfoy's do. **

**The girls would most likely always talk more about shoes, hair, nails, who's pretty, who's fat, who's dating who,… etc and use this to lash out at others or just gossip amongst themselves. Malfoy definitely also does this as she will make remarks about Hermione's teeth and Mrs Weasley's weight BUT I think she would see that not as 'immature gossiping' but just as something she says. Refusing to see her actions just as childish and ridiculous as she finds the Slytherin girls. On top of that Malfoy would not be interested enough in the girly things such as shoes, etc to talk about this all day. I would imagine her to be more ambitious. Striving toward power and influence over people rather than becoming queen-bee in girlworld.**

**It's quite difficult to explain ^^'. She's not that different from the Slytherin girls but she feels much better than them.** _**She looks down at them and sees them just as idiotic airheads with nothing more on their minds than fashion and boys.**_

**I've also seen in a lot of stories that Pansy and Blaise get characterised as two supportive albeit protective friends. This won't be the case in my story. They are Slytherins. Pansy will be an avid social climber and little bitch who hero-worships Draco, tries desperately to fall in her good graces and thus ends up being even more looked down upon.**

**Blaise will be a cold and uninterested boy who hangs out with her and the other Slytherin boys merely because it's the most profitable thing to do.**

**The boy in Malfoy's group Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Warren Fielding and Darryl Cavalieri are a very 'loose' translation of the words friends. They talk to her mainly because they are impressed by her and think she is **_**cool**_**. Her foul mouth, looks and family is the main reasons why they are so interested in her. She looks down on them, believing herself to be better than them thus resulting in the boys thinking she's out of their league. This ends up with the boys trying to impress her and get in her good graces. Making not only the relationship they have with Draco but also with each other very unstable and conditional. If she were suddenly to fall from graces or lose her position as 'top-dog' they would drop her like a rock.**

**So she does not have loyal Slytherin friends. She has a group of conditional admirers and social climbers. In other words she's very wary of them, not letting them close or trusting them and this makes her very much on her own.**


	9. B2:Stuck between a rock and a hard place

**Book 2: Chapter 6: Stuck between a rock and a hard place**

"Nothing." Malfoy snarled. "I don't know how she got it."

"You're lying!" Harry was beginning to lose his patience.

She sneered at him. "Even if I did know there's no reason why I should tell you, Potter."

"You better." Ron threatened.

"Or what?" Malfoy bit back.

Both boys stood in silence for a while, not really sure what to say. Her cold eyes took them in haughtily. The look was nothing new but the mock in it made Harry's cheeks heat and his embarrassment flare. He felt absolutely vulnerable and exposed, like he wasn't wearing any clothes at all.

Malfoy's nose crinkled further in distaste and Harry subtly looked down to make sure that wasn't the case. "You're pathetic." She snatched her wand from Ron's hand and turned around to march off.

"If we don't stop this then Hogwarts is going to close." Harry tried in a last desperate attempt to get her to tell them what she knew but she merely shrugged.

"It was a lousy school anyway."

"If that happens then we'll tell your father you gave Hermione the Malfoy heirloom." Malfoy froze midstep. "Tell us what you know and I promise we'll never say a word to anyone about it. But if Hermione wakes up and we find out you were lying-" He didn't really know how to finish that sentence. He wished he could see her face at that moment. She didn't make a move to move either forward or back. "W-"

"But then that's it." She said with a voice that sounded slightly croaky. "I'll help you this once and you'll never tell anyone, you'll never hang it over my head again." She turned around to look at him.

Harry nodded and offered her a hand. "I promise."

She scoffed. "Promises mean nothing at all, Potter."

"Well you'll have to trust us anyway." Harry said in annoyance.

"Fine." She said after a few more moments of silence but she didn't take his hand. "I'll tell you what happened."

* * *

><p>When Hermione entered the library she was panting from exhaustion. Heavy breathing and several sharp flashes of pain in her sides alerted her that maybe she had been running too fast but she simply didn't have any time to lose. If what she suspected was right than she might have possibly figured out what was hidden in the chamber of secrets.<p>

She immediately went to the magical creatures section. Her eyes flashed over the books that were there. Serpents. Serpents. Serpents. When she found several books that could be of use she quickly snatched them from their shelves. She quickly carried the heavy pile of books over to the nearest table and dropped them heavily on the wooden surface.

At the next table, Hermione noticed, Draco Malfoy was sitting surrounded by a pile of old library books and a long roll of parchment. First Hermione thought it as a homework assignment but never had she seen an assignment so long. Besides Draco Malfoy never made her homework, or at least not herself and she certainly wouldn't miss watching a Quidditch game to catch up on it. It was a pity, Hermione thought, the girl wasn't unintelligent and she had a talent for spells, charms and even potions but she could be even better if she put more time and practice into it.

But no, this definitely wasn't a homework assignment and by the look of utter boredom on her face as she scribbled something down on the parchment once in a while, it wasn't personal research either.

This could only be one thing- detention. Hermione shuddered.

She was pretty sure the other girl had already noticed her presence but she didn't glance in her direction or acknowledge her presence in any way. This too didn't really surprise Hermione. The girl rarely spoke to her or Ron, she simply ignored their presence, nose high in the air like they weren't worthy of her recognition. Only when Harry came into the picture did she feel the need to start a fight or meddle in their business. She had a hunch about why it was like that but without proper evidence or any real knowledge of her as a person that was simply a theory like any other.

Hermione flipped through page after page in the first book but didn't find anything. With a groan she tossed it aside and gave the same treatment to the second one. She only got to the third page when she found what she was looking for. She ripped the page out in a hurry. She needed to get this page too a teacher quickly or at least to Harry and Ron.

The sound of ripping paper had apparently grabbed the attention of the girl at the next table. Her bored grey eyes glanced at Hermione. "So much in love with your books that you're planning to steal them page by page, Granger?" She asked in a lazy drawl.

But Hermione didn't have time for her nasty remarks. "Malfoy, I need to borrow your mirror."

"Suddenly become aware of your own-" Malfoy began but Hermione didn't have the time or patience for this. She snatched Malfoy's bag from the table and started searching through it while she made her way out of the library. Malfoy wouldn't be in any danger from the basilisk, she was a Slytherin pureblood after all.

Hermione turned a corner and then another, careful to use the mirror to look around corners. She still needed to figure out how something as large as a basilisk could roam freely. Someone would have noticed a giant serpent slithering through the halls of Hogwarts.

She was so busy thinking about all the possibilities that she didn't notice when she was approached from behind.

"Thinking I'd ever let you get away with stealing my bag is a pipe-dream, Granger!" Malfoy scoffed as she grabbed Hermione's arm and snatched her bag back. "And why are you smiling like some-"

"Because you just solved it! Pipes!" Hermione said, unable to fight her large smile down.

Malfoy just rolled her eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about, and frankly, I don't care." She glanced haughtily at her mirror in Hermione's hand. "Keep the mirror, you need it more than I do and there's no way I'd want it returned now."

She swung her bag over her shoulder and would have walked off if Hermione hadn't suddenly grabbed her arm. "Didn't you hear that?"

"What are you talking about, Granger? I didn't hear anything."

"It was very quiet but it sounded like a his or something." Hermione said. She grabbed Malfoy's tie and pulled her against one of the walls.

"Listen here you f-" She halted when she noticed something was wrong. The taller girl seemed to have been using her mirror to look around the corner but had now fallen eerily silent. Malfoy tried to wrench her tie loose from her grip but the girls grip was like steel. "Wha-" She started but stopped midsentence as she heard something. Very vague and soft coming from around the corner. The sound of something sliding or being dragged over the floor. She froze her eyes wide and heartbeat beating loudly in her ears. Frozen in fear she snapped her eyes closed and pressed her back against the wall.

Everyone knows that closing your eyes doesn't protect you from the things you don't see but at that moment she was too frozen in fear to do anything more. The sound, soft and gentle as it was, slowly became a little bit louder before it stopped altogether.

Her heart pounded and inexplicably she knew it was very close. She held her breath, too afraid to even breath, for a moment she was sure that there would not be another breath for her. She remembered thinking 'this can't be happening' and then suddenly the noise started again but this time it seemed to be going away from her.

She waited until the sound was gone until she dared to breath once more and it took another ten minutes for her to dare open her eyes. The hallway was completely empty except for her and Granger. After another ten minutes she dared to move. Her tie was still stuck in Granger's unmoving hand. Upset as she was she just ripped the tie from the Gryffindor's hand, snatched up her bag and ran down the corridor.

Just before she turned the corner she looked back at the other girl, as if maybe she would have moved by then but when indeed she hadn't Malfoy turned around the corner and headed for the Slytherin common room.

On the way to her dorm she absentmindedly threw away her tie not even considering casting 'reparo' on it.

* * *

><p>"Is that all you know?" Harry asked slightly disappointed. "She ran out of the library with your bag and some papers she ripped from a library book? She used your mirror to look around a corner when she was petrified but you didn't see anything?"<p>

"What do you mean doesn't know anything?" Ron said in exasperation. "Didn't you hear her, Harry?! She was there when Hermione was petrified and didn't even bother telling anyone about it. Let alone try and get help."

"Yes, Draco Malfoy saviour of Squibs, Muggles and Mudbloods everywhere." She spat. "While I'm at it I'll be more than happy to entrust Malfoy Manor to the Weasleys and join the nunnery."

The tips of Ron's ears were bright red. "You might as well join a nunnery since you're as flat as a-"

But he didn't get to finish that sentence as Malfoy shrieked a spell and a large splash of water was dunked over his head from a wooden bucket.

"Finish that sentence and die Weasel." Her ears were red now too.

Harry quickly interrupted the two before they could do anymore damage. "The papers Hermione ripped out of the book, what did she do with them?"

She seemed to be taken by surprise and even seemed to seriously think about it for several seconds. "She took them from the library but when I caught up with her she didn't have them."

"You're barmy i-" Ron began but Malfoy cut him off with a snappish response.

"If I tell you that she didn't have them then she didn't have them Weasel!"

Harry honestly didn't understand. What could Hermione possibly have done with the papers in the meanwhile? If she stowed them away in a pocket wouldn't anyone have found them by now?

With that he quickly snatched Malfoy's bag from her and dumped the contents unceremonious on the floor. She looked absolutely livid and started complaining and cursing but he simply ignored it as he sat down on his knees and started to scatter the papers further over the floor.

"Cut it out Potter!" She said as she gave him a firm shove.

"But the papers have to be in here somewhere." Harry said.

She tapped her foot on the floor impatiently. "Like I wouldn't have found them by now if she had." Yet reluctantly Ron and Malfoy joined him on the floor and helped him in searching through the blonde's papers.

He noticed she barely had any books with her at all. Rather her bag was filled with several rolls of parchments, most of which were supposed to be notes for class but barely held any useful notes at all, rather the sidenotes were filled up with absentminded doodles (Harry noted many of him mutilated in one fashion or another) or short conversations in different handwritings.

"Got it." Harry said when he'd finally found them. "They were wedged between the pages of your transfiguration book."

"Makes sense, I always let Blaise take my notes for Transfiguration." Malfoy said almost absentmindedly.

Ron muttered something under his breath about why Hermione never took notes for them.

"Because you're a twat." Malfoy mentioned offhandedly.

Ron grimaced. "Either you shut your trap or-"

"Or what?" Malfoy asked with a cocky smile. "You'll try to make me eat slugs again? Please do, there's nothing that would amuse me more than seeing you belch up slugs for the next couple of hours."

Ron's face heated in embarrassment and Harry thought this the perfect time for the two of them to leave.

He tugged on Ron's sleeve and both of them left. Malfoy's eyes followed them until they disappeared around a corner.

* * *

><p>Everything had fallen into place after that. It all made sense after they figured out what the really roamed in the chamber of secrets.<p>

They both dashed to the staff room to show their findings to Professor McGonagall, only to hear an announcement that another attack had occurred and teachers must report to the staff room immediately.

It hit Harry like a bucket of bricks when they found out the student taken into the chamber of secrets was Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister. The school was going to close and students would be sent home the following morning. Lockheart didn't sound so confident anymore when the other teachers suggested it should be him who slays the beast.

And despite Harry's distaste for their DADA teacher he also knew he would be the person they should divulge their information too.

Of course the meeting with Gilderoy Lockhart didn't go as expected at all. Although somewhere deep down Harry knew he should have expected that the teacher was a fraud and would try to run for it.

That sort of made sense now too.

They marched Lockhart out of his office and down the nearest stairs, along the dark corridor where the messages shone on the wall, to the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

Myrtle looked flattered when they asked her how she died and she told the story with relish. She wasn't very good with the details but at least she was able to point to the general direction where she'd seen the eyes that had caused her death.

Harry and Ron hurried over to the sink in front of her toilet. Lockhart was standing well back, a look of utter terror on his face.

It looked like an ordinary sink. They examined every inch of it, inside and out, including the pipes below. And then Harry saw it: Scratched on the side of one of the copper taps was a tiny snake.

"That tap's never worked," said Myrtle brightly as he tried to turn it.

"Harry," said Ron. "Say something. Something in Parseltongue."

Harry looked at the snake, willing himself to believe it was alive. If he moved his head, the candlelight made it look as though it were moving.

"Open up," he said.

At once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into.

Harry heard Ron gasp and looked up again. He had made up his mind what he was going to do.

"I'm going down there," he said.

He couldn't not go, not now they had found the entrance to the Chamber, not if there was even the faintest, slimmest, wildest chance that Ginny might be alive.

"Me too," said Ron.

There was a pause.

"Well, you hardly seem to need me," said Lockhart, with a shadow of his old smile. "I'll just -"

He put his hand on the door knob, but Ron and Harry both pointed their wands at him.

"You can go first," Ron snarled.

White-faced and wandless, Lockhart approached the opening.

Harry jabbed Gilderoy in the back with his wand. Lockhart slid his legs into the pipe.

"I really don't think -" he started to say, but Ron gave him a push, and he slid out of sight. Harry followed quickly. He lowered himself slowly into the pipe, then let go.

It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark slide, he knew that he was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons. Behind him he could hear Ron, thudding slightly at the curves.

And then, just as he had begun to worry about what would happen when he hit the ground, the pipe levelled out, and he shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in. Lockhart was getting to his feet a little ways away, covered in slime and white as a ghost. Harry stood aside as Ron came whizzing out of the pipe, too.

All three of them turned to stare into the darkness ahead.

"Lumos!" Harry muttered to his wand and it lit again. "C'mon," he said to Ron and Lockhart, and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor. The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead.

"Remember," Harry said quietly as they walked cautiously forward, "any sign of movement, close your eyes right away."

But the tunnel was quiet as the grave and the first unexpected sound was Ron's croaky voice.

"Harry - there's something up there -" said Ron hoarsely, grabbing Harry's shoulder.

They froze, watching. Harry could just see the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. It wasn't moving.

"Maybe it's asleep," he breathed, glancing back at the other two.

The light slid over a gigantic snake skin lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least.

Suddenly he heard footsteps, far closer than they should be but before he could turn around he heard a voice echo through the tunnel "Expelliarmus!" and his wand flew out of his hand into the hands of a smirking Draco Malfoy.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So- I missed the deadline again… *Sigh* Why do I even bother... Guh...<br>**

**This chapter is absolutely horrible. Hrm :/ The original draft was completely different. It still involved them getting the papers from Malfoy but then the three of them would figure it out together (with the help of Hermione indirectly of course), I had the entire scene written with the three of them in the wardrobe in the teachers' lounge and then she would again be there when they went to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. (Because she knew then it had something to do with the whole mystery) **

**But I just couldn't find a good enough reason for her to go down with them. And even when I found something that was remotely acceptable. It wouldn't work for the later chapters. *Sigh* so I'm still not satisfied about this or the three chapters that are following but yeah… :/ Can't seem to get them right. So now I'm just posting them and moving on.**

**Sorry it's so short (not even 3000 words) it used to be important but I decided to summarize everything much shorter since this is all so boring XD**

**So new chapter… whenever… Urgh… (I'm not making promises anymore that I can't keep)**

**Ps. Anyone watched Pistolshrimps Harry Potter video's 'Harry Potter & the outcasts of Hogwarts'? If you haven't you should. Their kind of lame humour makes me laugh every time XD They are Hilarious… Ron did it.**


	10. B2: A spell, A cut and a Basilisk

**Bo****ok 2: Chapter 8: A spell, A cut and a Basili****sk**

"Malfoy!" Ron snarled, raising his wand to her. "What are you doing here?!"

The girl only scoffed. "You'd think you could just come to me asking about the chamber of secrets and I would just smile and play along? I thought you knew me better than that."

"So you followed us?" Harry asked gobsmacked, even though he probably should have expected it.

"I'm a Slytherin, I'll do whatever it takes." Was her simple reply. "And if what it takes is a little patience and quite an unpleasant ride down a large pipe then it'll be worth it."

"Young lady," Lockhart interrupted both of them. "You've come to rescue me. These two students have disarmed me with a very complex and cunning scheme and are now taking me hostage against my will. You must immediately go inform a teacher of my predicament before they make an attempt on my life."

Malfoy glanced at Harry and quirked an eyebrow.

"It's a long story." Harry confessed sheepishly. "Long story short Gilderoy Lockhart is a fraud."

"Why am I not surprised?" Malfoy drawled.

"B-B-Bu-But you can't just let them do whatever they p-please with me. I'm sure you would love to be presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart, autographed of course."

Malfoy's lip curled in disgust. "Don't even put me in the same category as those weak-minded fans of yours. Any blind man could see you're complete and utter incompetence!" She spat.

Gilderoy took a step back, Harry assumed out of fear at first but then Gilderoy's dived at Ron and ripped the wand from his hands. Ron hadn't expected the sudden attack was knocked to the ground.

Harry jumped forward, but too late - Lockhart was straightening up, panting, Ron's wand in his hand and a gleaming smile back on his face. He aimed the wand at Malfoy who was now the only other person with a wand.

"The adventure ends here!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the Weasley girl, and that you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body - say good-bye to your memories!"

Malfoy screamed when he raised Ron's Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled, "Obliviate!"

The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Harry flung his arms over his head and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling that were thundering to the floor.

Next moment, he was standing next to Malfoy, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock.

"Ron!" he shouted. "Are you okay? Ron!"

"I'm here!" came Ron's muffled voice from behind the rockfall. "I'm okay - this git's not, though - he got blasted by the wand."

There was a dull thud and a loud "ow!" It sounded as though Ron had just kicked Lockhart in the shins. "Kick Malfoy for me." Ron's voice said. "It was her fault he even got my wand in the first place. Does she still have her memories?"

Harry spared her a glance but by the way she was glaring at the wall it wasn't much of a question. "I guess so." Harry called back.

"What now?" Ron's said again, sounding desperate. "We can't get through - it'll take ages..."

Malfoy rolled her eyes. "Are both of you completely incompetent? Taking care of this will be a breeze." She pointed her wand at the obstruction and said in a clear voice. "Accantus!"

There was a blast and the blast was shot backwards with impressive skill. She smiled, satisfied at the good job. "See? Piece of cake."

But just as she said this they heard a noise. Harry barely managed to look up before the entire ceiling came thundering down.

He jumped back, literally throwing himself on the hard floor, in order to prevent himself being crushed by any of the falling rubble.

Harry's eyes were squeezed shut tight as he listened to the ear shattering die down.

"Harry!" Ron yelled from somewhere that sounded incredibly far away. "Harry! Are you okay?!"

"Yes-" He said, sounding so croaky he barely recognized his own voice. "I think so."

He slowly raised his head but couldn't see anything as everything was pitch-black.

His hands skimmed across the ground around him until coincidentally, they found his wand, that Malfoy must have dropped in her hurry to get away from the falling debris.

His eyes widened, he had completely forgotten she had been next to him when the ceiling came down. "Malfoy?!" He called out. "Lumos."

With the light of his wand he spotted her immediately. Sitting not very far from him, covered in sooth, as he supposed he was too.

"Malfoy, you okay?" He asked as he crawled closer. "Are you hurt?"

"Yes." She whimpered pathetically and pointed towards her leg. There was quite a long gash that had probably been caused by a sharp rock. He touched it carefully, trying to assess how serious it was.

"I'm going to die. I'm a Malfoy. I can't die somewhere in a sewer like this." She sniffled. "I can't stay trapped down here. They'll never find us down here. And when they do- I'll look horrible!"

The cut on her leg had indeed lost a bit of blood causing her stocking to stick to it. He had carefully peeled the fabric loose in order to have a better look at it. Now that there was no fabric to obscure his vision he could tell it wasn't really all that bad. "You're not going to die. You're be fine. It's just a scratch. It just needs to be cleaned."

He looked around for something but soon realized there was nothing clean in sight to possibly cover it with.

When he looked back at her, her expression had changed completely. She looked angry and disgusted and with a furious kick she sent him falling backwards. "Sod off Potter. Insensitive berk. Get your paws of off me. If you ever touch me again I'll make sure you vomit slugs until next year. Twat." Apparently she hadn't taken to his quick dismissal of her injury.

He sighed at her sudden change in attitude. One moment she was whimpering pathetically because of a minor scratch and the next she was telling him to sod off but at least this meant she was back to her normal self. He got to his feet and offered her his hand. "Come on. I'll help you to your feet."

She slapped it away furiously, still looking affronted. "Never mind." She snapped. "I'm fine, remember?"

In order to distract himself from Malfoy, who was driving him absolutely mad with her outrageous behaviour, as usual, he called to Ron. "Ron can you try to shift some of this rock?" Harry asked. "I'll be back soon."

"Okay," said Ron, who seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady.

He felt a hand on his arm. "Where are you going?" Malfoy asked, wide-eyed.

"I'm going up ahead. Trying to find another way out." Harry lied.

"No!" She immediately yelled, lunging herself at his arm, not letting it go. "Don't go! You can't leave me here alone in the dark!"

He peeled her of his arm carefully and sat her down on a piece of rubble. "I won't be long. Just stay here and use your wand for some light. I'll be back before you know it."

The girl looked up at him. "How do I know you won't just leave me here to die?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess you don't but then again you really don't have much of a choice do you?"

She still didn't look very keen on the idea, actually she looked like she just wanted to clutch at him in fear again and order him not to leave her but she didn't. Instead she just clutched at her wand and said, softly. "Lumos."

The point of her wand started giving of a soft light, joining his in illuminating the dark tunnel.

He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "See you in a bit."

He looked at the tunnel ahead than back at her, looking absolutely miserable. Although he supposed that was both by losing her advantage in the situation as well as suddenly finding herself trapped far below the ground in a creepy, dark tunnel.

Harry was almost one hundred percent certain that there was no other way out but they were wasting time and he needed to look for Ginny. Malfoy couldn't know that was actually what he was planning but now that he'd gotten his wand at least he stood a fighting chance.

So he set off alone past the giant snake skin.

Soon the distant noise of Ron straining to shift the rocks was gone as was the light of Malfoy's wand, leaving only his own. The tunnel turned and turned again.

He wanted the tunnel to end, yet dreaded what he'd find when it did. And then, at last, as he crept around yet another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

Harry approached, his throat very dry. He could guess what he had to do. He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker.

"Open," said Harry, in a low, faint hiss.

The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harry, shaking from head to foot, walked inside.

* * *

><p>He had left her. She was sure of it. He always tried to pretend he was so much better than anyone else, so noble but he'd just left her there to starve, she was sure of it.<p>

She felt miserable. Her father had told her not to interfere with the work of the heir of Slytherin but she hadn't wanted to listen. She had wanted to prove she could be of actual use. Prove she could handle the responsibility of being the Malfoy heir. But instead everything had gone wrong and now she found herself dozens of feet below the ground buried alive. Waiting to die of starvation. Or blood loss.

It wasn't fair.

And noble Potter had been gone for far too long, undoubtedly having found an exit and leaving her there. Nobody would ever find her because nobody knew where she was. Except Potter, who probably would just leave her there to spite her. That miserable scar headed freak.

"Malfoy the least you can do is try to move some rocks." The Weasel ginger called from the other side of the stone wall that kept her trapped there. "Since it is after all your fault it caved in. Twice."

"Over my dead body!" She screamed. She looked at the stone's in distaste, heavy and wet and sticky with Merlin-Knows-What. She wasn't touching those, even if her life depended on it.

It would take ages to get that gunk from under her finger nails. Ages.

She needed to wait until Weasel made an opening. But she couldn't wait that long. She wanted to get out of there right now.

She wasn't going to stay for another second in such a vile, damp, dark place. She'd had enough, she wasn't going to sit around and wait for slow-poke Weasel to finally make an passage. Her patience had run out.

Angry and tired she stomped off, heading down the same direction Potter had headed off to before. If he could find a way out if here, than surely she could too.

But with every step she only became more miserable and less hopeful.

She started to lose hope after a while, maybe she should turn back while she still could, before she became lost. Maybe Weasel had already cleared the way out by now.

Just as she thought this she could hear music coming from somewhere. A song like she'd never heard one before. It was eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly; it filled her heart completely with a warm fuzzy feeling but at the same time she could feel something else dangerous and uncomfortable twisting inside of her. She looked behind her, swearing she could hear the music coming from that direction but she saw nothing. The music only grew louder and louder. Then as the music reached such a pitch that Draco felt it vibrating inside her own ribs, flames erupted right above her.

She squeaked in shock and ducked.

A crimson bird the size of a swan had appeared, piping its weird music while it flew away deeper into the tunnel ahead of her. It had a glittering golden tail as long as a peacock's, gleaming golden talons, a long, sharp golden beak and beady black eyes.

She recognized it immediately, a phoenix. It was a very rare animal in the magical world but also one of great importance and significance. Her father had wanted to buy one once when she was much younger than she was now but the darn birds were almost impossible to domesticate so he'd decided against it. She remembered the particular event very clearly only because it was such a rare occurrence for her father to not acquire what he wanted in the end.

She didn't know why but her mind was completely made up now. She picked up her pace, going towards the same direction she'd seen the bird disappear to.

It didn't take long for her to see light in the distance and as she came closer and closer she became more assured of herself. A way out finally.

* * *

><p>"Now, Harry, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give him..."<p>

He cast an amused eye over Fawkes and the Sorting Hat. "Oh and the girl you've decided to bring will be dealt with first. Since it would hardly be fair for you to have the power of magic on your side in this little lesson. She'll die here and you'll see how much good the help you receive will do from Dumbledore or anybody else." Then he walked away. Harry, fear spreading up his numb legs, watched Riddle stop between the high pillars and look up into the stone face of Slytherin, high above him in the half-darkness. Riddle opened his mouth wide.

"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four. "

Harry wheeled around to look up at the statue, Fawkes swaying on his shoulder.

Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. Horror-struck, Harry saw his mouth opening, wider and wider, to make a huge black hole.

"Potter?! What on earth's name are you doing?" Interrupted Malfoy's voice suddenly. He swivelled around. Draco Malfoy was running up to him completely unaware of what was going on.

And something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering up from its depths.

All Harry's instincts screamed at him and it took only a second for him to listen to them and just run for it.

The girl seemed to get now that something wasn't right and stopped dead in her tracks.

Just as he reached her something huge hit the stone floor of the Chamber and Malfoy let out a tiny scream in surprise. His hand flew out to cover her eyes. "S-Shut your e-ey-yes." Harry managed to choke out as he shut his tight.

"W-What's going on?"

Harry felt the thing shudder - he knew what was happening, he could sense it, could almost see the giant serpent uncoiling itself from Slytherin's mouth. But he couldn't bring himself to explain it. He didn't think he really needed too. She couldn't not sense the imminent threat that hung thick in the air.

Then he heard Riddle's hissing voice:

"Kill them."

He felt Fawkes' wing sweep his cheek as he took flight. Harry wanted to shout, "Don't leave me!" but what chance did a phoenix have against the king of serpents?

The basilisk was moving towards them; he could hear its heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty floor. Eyes still tightly shut, Harry grabbed for Malfoy's hand and began to run blindly sideways, his hand outstretched, feeling his way.

He could hear the girl behind him calling out several spells that didn't seem to do them any good as she blindly cast them, either not hitting their target or not being effective enough to stop it from gaining on them. Voldemort was laughing.

Harry tripped and they both fell to the ground. He fell hard onto the stone and tasted blood in his mouth. The serpent was barely feet from him, he could hear it coming.

There was a loud, explosive spitting sound right above them, and then something heavy hit them so hard that they were smashed into the wall. Waiting for fangs to sink through his body he heard more mad hissing, something thrashing wildly off the pillars. For a second he thought that maybe one of Malfoy's spells had been effective but he couldn't tell what was happening.

He couldn't help it - he opened his eyes wide enough to squint at what was going on.

The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between the pillars. As Harry trembled, ready to close his eyes if it turned, he saw what had distracted the snake wasn't one of Malfoy's spells.

Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs long and thin as sabres.

Fawkes dived. His long golden beak sank out of sight and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered the floor. The snake's tail thrashed and would have hit the girl next to him if he hadn't jerked at her arm so hard that she was lurched over his lap, before Harry could shut his eyes, the serpent turned - Harry looked straight into its face and saw that its eyes, both its great, bulbous yellow eyes, had been punctured by the phoenix; blood was streaming to the floor, and the snake was spitting in agony.

"NO!" Harry heard Riddle screaming. "LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE GIRL STILL HAS A WAND! THEY ARE BEHIND YOU! YOU CAN STILL SMELL THEM. KILL THEM."

The blinded serpent swayed, confused, still deadly. Fawkes was circling its head, piping his eerie song, jabbing here and there at its scaly nose as the blood poured from its ruined eyes.

Harry prayed inwardly for help, from someone, anyone but the snake's tail whipped across the floor again.

It was Malfoy who pulled him to his feet, preventing both of them from being crushed.

Now with her eyes open she started casting spells again but it didn't seem to work on the ancient creature.

It swept its tail again but both of them jumped back.

"Try the confundus charm." Harry yelled.

She swept her wand through the air and recited the spell perfectly but still the snake seemed unaffected. It swept its tail again and they narrowly escaped it.

"Try Flipendo! Furnunculus!" Harry said.

With every failed attempt the deathgrip he had on her free hand tightened. They evaded several more of the Basilisk attacks.

None of the spells were working. He was starting to tire out and from the soft pants that were coming from the girl next to him she seemed to be tiring too. When he glanced at her quickly he could see the aggravation on her face and the sweat was beginning to gather on her brow. Her spells became more violent and wilder but the snake swung again and they made another narrow escape. Their reactions were slowing down, they couldn't keep this up forever.

"We're being driven into a corner." Malfoy said through clenched teeth. "We need to make a run for the other side. Immobulus! Impedimenta!"

Harry nodded and they quickly made a run for the other side of the room. Unexpectedly the snake's head dove right towards them and in mid run they had no way of avoiding it in time.

"Protego!" Malfoy yelled with a wave of her wand. The snake's head crashed hard on the bright, transparent blue shield which couldn't handle the strength of the impact and shattered. Both Harry and Malfoy were catapulted to opposite directions because of the shattered shield which saved them from being run through by the Basilisk's razor-sharp teeth.

Fawks momentarily distracted the giant snake by diving towards its face which allowed both of them to scramble upright again, but there was no opening for them to join forces with the giant snake in between them.

"KILL THE GIRL! SHE HAS THE WAND! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE GIRL IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. SMELL HER." Riddle yelled out and the snake immediately followed his command, lunging itself forward several times.

"Petrificus totalus! Stupefy! Reducto!" She yelled between its attacks without any results. With its last attack she was forced to drop herself onto the ground. The tail came back too fast for her to get back on her feet and it only missed her by an inch because she pushed off at the last minute and did some kind of backwards roll and ended up back in a crouch.

"Stupefy!" She screamed again but this time instead of aiming it at the giant snake she pointed her wand at the one controlling it. Riddle didn't even bother to try and avoid it as the spell didn't seem to affect him at all.

The second it took for the girl to register this she was hit full force by the snake's giant tail.

"Prote-!"

She was flung several feet through the air and into one of the heavy stone walls. Her wand was flung in a totally different direction landing only a feet from where Riddle was standing.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay some quick notes. Oh Gilderoy. I know a lot of people don't like Gilderoy as a character he was always one of my favourites. Not because he was such a great character but merely because he always managed to crack me up with his ridiculous antics. I mean who else would ever suggest to ask Snape to whip up a quick love potion for class.<strong>

**I had a lot of fun writing his dialogue. I was happy with it on the first try (this never happens with me) though it's slightly unsettling that I could so easily imagine how an idiot like him would act. **

**We see a bit of Malfoy's more cowardly side coming through in the middle. The cut she got wasn't all that bad but of course as we see when Draco is attacked by the Hippogriff he/she can be a bit of a drama queen. (It's killed me! xP One of Tom Felton's best lines. The way he does it is brilliant.)**

**Also here we see a short part done in her perspective. Another part where she was acting like a proper drama-queen because honestly rather wondering down a dark corridor than just waiting until the pathway is cleared, not very smart. Didn't want to do her perspective in this story but needed to skip Voldy's boring speech and make her appear… not out of thin air. **

**The middle part (Starting where Malfoy makes the tunnel collapse for a second time and ending after Harry took off) was added just now. Five minutes ago as I was doing my last revision and spelling check. (I always edit it four times in advance and then a fifth time just before uploading) It's added some bulk to this chapter which is nice because the last one was so short.**

**I quite like it. Much more than the original which seemed very, very rushed and sloppy. (Though that's basically two words that describe my writing style perfectly.**

**The spell Draco used to blow away the rubble was just a random one I made up. The name Accantus is Latin for blast (I think) Pretty lame but sounds better than Canite or Explodere (Blow or Explosion)  
><strong>

**Oh, also… Perfect timing Draco. Walking into a room just when a giant beast is emerging ready to kill. Hasn't it happened to all of us…?**

**And yes Riddle just assumed she was there to help Harry. Besides his sixteen year old-self didn't know Lucius Malfoy yet so even if Draco knew who he was here. There was little she could do to change his mind.**

**Two more chapters coming up… Soon. Because being vague is okay ;)**


	11. B2: Potter, Knight in shining armour

"MALFOY!" Harry yelled.

"NOW! NOW! Attack the boy!" Riddle yelled.

The snake's tail swung again and Harry ducked. Something soft hit his face.

The basilisk had swept the Sorting Hat into Harry's arms. Harry seized it. It was all he had left, his only chance - he rammed it onto his head and threw himself flat onto the floor as the basilisk's tail swung over him again.

Help me - help me - Harry thought, his eyes screwed tight under the hat. Please help me.

There was no answering voice. Instead, the hat contracted, as though an invisible hand was squeezing it very tightly.

Something very hard and heavy thudded onto the top of Harry's head, almost knocking him out. Stars winking in front of his eyes, he grabbed the top of the hat to pull it off and felt something long and hard beneath it.

A gleaming silver sword had appeared inside the hat, its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs.

Harry was on his feet, ready. The basilisk's head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it twisted to face him. He could see the vast, bloody eye sockets, see the mouth stretching wide, wide enough to swallow him whole, lined with fangs long as his sword, thin, glittering, venomous -

It lunged blindly again- Harry dodged and it hit the Chamber wall. It lunged again, and its forked tongue lashed Harry's side. He raised the sword in both his hands -

The basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was true - Harry threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth -

But as warm blood drenched Harry's arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor.

Harry slid down the wall. He gripped the fang that was spreading poison through his body and wrenched it out of his arm. But he knew it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as he dropped the fang and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy. The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull colour.

A patch of scarlet swam past, and Harry heard a soft clatter of claws beside him.

"Fawkes," said Harry thickly. "You were fantastic, Fawkes . . . ."."

He felt the bird lay its beautiful head on the spot where the serpent's fang had pierced him.

He could hear echoing footsteps and then a dark shadow moved in front of him.

"You're dead, Harry Potter," said Riddle's voice above him. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying."

Harry blinked. Fawke's head slid in and out of focus. Thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy feathers.

"I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time. I'm in no hurry."

Harry felt drowsy. Everything around him seemed to be spinning.

"So ends the famous Harry Potter," said Riddle's distant voice. "Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry... She bought you twelve years of borrowed time ... but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must . . . ."

If this is dying, thought Harry, it's not so bad.

Even the pain was leaving him ...

But was this dying? Instead of going black, the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Harry gave his head a little shake and there was Fawkes, still resting his head on Harry's arm. A pearly patch of tears was shining all around the wound - except that there was no wound.

"Get away, bird," said Riddle's voice suddenly. "Get away from him - I said, get away -"

Harry raised his head. Riddle was pointing Harry's wand at Fawkes; there was a bang like a gun, and Fawkes took flight again in a whirl of gold and scarlet.

"Phoenix tears. - ." said Riddle quietly, staring at Harry's arm. "Of course... healing powers... I forgot."

He looked into Harry's face. "But it makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Harry Potter ... you and me..."

He raised the wand.

Then, in a rush of wings, Fawkes had soared back overhead and something fell into Harry's lap - the diary.

For a split second, both Harry and Riddle, wand still raised, stared at it. Then, without thinking, without considering, as though he had meant to do it all along, Harry seized the basilisk fang on the floor next to him and plunged it straight into the heart of the book.

There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then he had gone. Harry's wand fell to the floor with a clatter and there was silence. Silence except for the steady drip of ink still oozing from the diary. The basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole right through it.

Harry was shaking all over, because he didn't find the strength to pull himself up he crawled over the floor pathetically on his hands and knees. His head was spinning as though he'd just travelled miles by Floo powder. Malfoy was lying not too far from him but when he was next to her he wasn't sure what to do. She had been hit pretty hard but he couldn't be certain how badly hurt she was.

Hesitantly he tapped his hand against her cheek a couple of times to wake her up. "Malfoy. Malfoy."

Her face twitched a bit and her eyebrows knotted but she didn't open her eyes or make any move to sit upright. "Malfoy. Malfoy. Wake up." He repeated a bit more urgently as he hit her cheek a few more times and then the other one. "Malfoy! Are you awake?! Can you speak?! Are you hurt?! Draco! Draco!"

Her eyes opened ever so slightly as a reaction. "Don't call me that." She mumbled half-awake, barely understandable.

Harry propped himself up against the wall behind them and allowed himself a few seconds to catch his breath while she was slowly awakening.

"Are you okay?" He asked when she was conscious enough to bring a hand to her face and rub her eye. His comment seemed to have made her aware of everything that had happened only shortly before. Bleary half-consciousness turned into wide-eyed alert so fast it was almost comical.

"What happened? Where's the snake?!" She sat up quick as lightning, which only resulted in a groan as she brought her hands to her head in pain.

"It's dead. I killed it." Saying it out loud made it surprisingly real for the first time. As if the instincts that told him his life was in peril were suddenly inexistent, leaving only exhaustion and relief.

Her head whipped around to the dead basilisk's body, she stared, dumbfounded then whipped around to him again.

"Wha-" But she didn't finish her question, completely dumbstruck.

Strangely enough he did feel a bit proud by her disbelieving expression, he could even feel a little self-satisfied smile tugging at his lips. "I stabbed it with the sword. I think Dumbledore sent it."

She stared wide-eyed at him for a little bit longer, then the sword and then him again but by then he couldn't help it, her disbelieving expression and the relief of still being alive were too overwhelming to suppress his smile any longer. It seemed to snap her back to her senses too, her face instantly soured and her cheeks flushed in anger and possibly even embarrassment.

"You don't have look so smug about it!" She bit resentfully. "Why didn't you just use the stupid sword to begin with, instead of almost getting both of us killed?!"

He ignored her question, not really sure how to explain he'd oddly pulled the sword out of the sorting hat. So instead he shrugged empathically as he stood up and dusted himself off. After the entire standoff against Voldemort the glare she was sending him only made his grin wider. "It only took one strike too." He mused, as if too himself. "It was quite easy, actually." It didn't even come close to the truth but she didn't need to know that. He revelled instead in the angry look she shot him as she sprung to her feet.

"It's your fault we were here in the first place! So don't act like you accomplished anything except almost getting us killed!" She gave him a firm shove as she stalked past him to where her wand was laying on the ground.

Harry could only roll his eyes, hadn't it been her own choice to follow him? Why hadn't she just staid put? They'd both been incredibly lucky. Well maybe him more so than her, the hit she took from the Basilisk's tail and after that the stone wall had taken its toll. She favoured one of her legs quite obviously. On top of a limp she sported, like him, several painful cuts and bruises. But those must not have been so bad, she'd gone back to her old moody self instantaneously, or at least enough to blame the entire thing on him, so she must be fine.

While she went to pick up her wand, Harry walked over to where Ginny was laying on the ground. The girl hadn't stirred one bit but her pulse was strong and steady, her breathing even.

"What's Weasel girl doing here anyway?"

Malfoy's sudden question came from right behind him and made him jump in surprise. Even with a limp her steps were stealthy and light as a cat's.

"It looks like she's okay but she won't wake up." He said.

Malfoy didn't seem particularly troubled by this of course. Her chalk-white face blank as she used her foot to nudge the girl a couple of times.

"Cut that out Malfoy." He said, pushing the appendage away.

The girl only groaned, crossing her arms impatiently over her chest. "Just rattle her a bit or something. This place makes my skin crawl, I want to go."

He ignored her comment and called Ginny's name a couple of more times while gently shaking her.

He pointedly ignored Malfoy impatiently tapping her foot on the ground.

"I don't think she's going to wake up anytime soon." Harry said as he stood up and went to find his wand. "I'll just use a levitation charm or something."

"You don't know anything do you Potter? The levitation charm only works on objects not humans."

His dirty fingers went through his hair in exasperation. "How about you try to wake her up then" and when he saw the dangerous glint in her eye quickly added. "-a proper way. And I'll go get the sorting hat, my wand and the sword."

The sword was stuck firmer in the roof of the basilisk's mouth than he thought it would be, when it let go after a huge tug, Harry almost fell backwards on the ground.

"Stop snickering Malfoy!"

The girl only pretended as if she hadn't been the only person who could have possibly been laughing at him. She was poking Ginny disinterested with her wand but unsurprisingly this didn't do much in waking the girl.

"We're going to have to carry her." Harry said reluctantly.

"What do you mean we? I'm not doing it. Not in a million years."

"Come on Malfoy. We can't leave her behind."

"Yes we can." The blond replied stubbornly.

"Well we're not going to." He shot back just as headstrong.

"If you absolutely have to be Saint-Potter, knight in shining armour, rescuing his ginger-maiden, why don't you carry her?!" She snapped.

Harry groaned. "Come off it Malfoy. The quicker we get back the sooner we can get out of here."

She was not convinced.

"It's not like Ron will let you through without me anyway."

Malfoy tapped her foot on the ground in annoyance but ended raising her hands in defeat. "Fine. Fine. Only because I want to get out of here now."

Why was it that she was the one with the exasperating habit of always being unnecessarily difficult about everything and still she'd act like it was everyone else who was giving her a hard time. Ron's opinion that she was a spoiled little princess seemed to be more true than ever. "You take her legs, I'll take the arms." Harry said eager to get back to Ron and to the surface. Both of them bent down to grab the redheaded girl's limbs and together they lifted her.

"She's heavy." Malfoy complained. "What does this girl eat?"

Harry thought it was a bit unfair to hear that from Malfoy who still looked like a nine year old girl or more like girls you'd see in magazines or commercials, only much shorter.

She was the kind of thin parents always tried to tell their daughters wasn't what real women looked like. He wasn't sure if that was on purpose. But he'd seen her eat enough times to know she spent more times picking at her food than actually eating.

"Lift her legs more. She's dragging over the floor." Harry said.

"It's not her legs that are the problem, Potter." Malfoy snapped back and indeed her behind was hanging so low over the ground that it was actually scraping over the floor from time to time.

"Just put her back down for a second." Malfoy said, annoyed. They both slowly lowered her to the ground. "We're going to have to drag her." The girl continued.

"We can't drag her. We should carry her." Harry countered.

"I'm tired. I can't carry her all the way back and it'd take forever. I'm in pain. I'm not carrying her any further." Defiantly she crossed her hands over her chest and stomped her good foot on the ground. She was behaving more like a petulant child than anything else but he didn't want to make her mood even worse by telling her that. Her stubbornness was working on his nerves but he was tired and in pain too so he couldn't carry Ginny all the way back by himself.

"Alright." He agreed eventually, not having much choice. Both of them grabbed one of her hands and like that they dragged her forward.

Fawkes was waiting for them, hovering in the Chamber entrance. They walked past the motionless coils of the dead basilisk, through the echoing gloom, and back into the tunnel. Harry heard the stone doors close behind them with a soft hiss. He hated to admit it but this way, even though maybe a bit insensitive was much easier and quicker.

After a few minutes' progress up the dark tunnel, a distant sound of slowly shifting rock reached Harry's ears.

"Ron!" Harry yelled, speeding up. "Ginny's okay! I've got her!"

He heard Ron give a strangled cheer, and they turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through the sizable gap he had managed to make in the rock fall.

"Ginny!" Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first. "She's alive! I don't believe it! What happened? I thought I heard that slimy git slither off a while ago. You both look like you've been attacked by pixies. How - what - where did that bird come from?"

Fawkes had swooped through the gap after Ginny.

Malfoy made a point of cutting Harry off by squeezing herself through the hole first but not without telling him he completely lacked manners.

"He's Dumbledore's," said Harry, squeezing through himself.

"How come you've got a sword?" said Ron, gaping at the glittering weapon Harry had tucked in his belt.

"I'll explain when we get out of here," said Harry with a sideways glance at Malfoy.

"But -"

"Later," Harry said shortly. He didn't think it was a good idea to tell Ron yet who'd been opening the Chamber, not in front of Malfoy, anyway. "Where's Lockhart?"

"Back there," said Ron, still looking puzzled but jerking his head up the tunnel toward the pipe. "He's in a bad way. Come and see."

Led by Fawkes, whose wide scarlet wings emitted a soft golden glow in the darkness, they walked all the way back to the mouth of the pipe. Gilderoy Lockhart was sitting there, humming placidly to himself.

"His memory's gone," said Ron. "The Memory Charm backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here. He's a danger to himself."

Lockhart peered good-naturedly up at them all.

"Hello," he said. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?"

Harry ignored him and instead he bent down and looked up the long, dark pipe.

"No," he heard Ron responding.

"That'd be some improvement though." Malfoy added casually.

"Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" Harry said to redhead to distract him.

Ron shook his head, but Fawkes the phoenix had swooped past Harry and was now fluttering in front of him, his beady eyes bright in the dark. He was waving his long golden tail feathers. Harry looked uncertainly at him.

"He looks like he wants you to grab hold..." said Ron, looking perplexed. "But you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there -"

"Fawkes," said Harry, "isn't an ordinary bird."

"It's a phoenix. Of course it can pull us up there! Honestly were you raised in a barn?" Draco said exasperated than with the last comment a smile came on her face. "That's right I forgot."

Harry quickly continued, afraid Ron might try to strangle her. "We've got to hold on to each other. Ron, grab Ginny. Professor Lockhart -"

"He means you," said Ron sharply to Lockhart.

"You hold onto Malfoy with your one hand and Ron's with your other."

"Oh hello young lady." Gilderoy said airily. "You're quite the pretty one aren't you?"

Malfoy merely snorted at his antics and grabbed the older man by the wrist.

Harry made sure the hat, sword and his wand were all safely tucked away, hand outstretched for Malfoy to grab on to and with his other took hold of Fawkes's strangely hot tail feathers.

An extraordinary lightness seemed to spread through his whole body and the next second, in a rush of wings, they were flying upward through the pipe. Harry could hear Lockhart dangling below him, saying, "Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!" The chill air was whipping through Harry's hair, and before he'd stopped enjoying the ride, it was over - all four of them were hitting the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and as Lockhart straightened his hat, the sink that hid the pipe was sliding back into place.

Myrtle goggled at them.

"You're alive," she said blankly to Harry.

"There's no need to sound so disappointed," he said grimly, wiping flecks of blood and slime off his glasses.

"Oh, well ... I'd just been thinking ... if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," said Myrtle, blushing silver.

"Urgh!" said Ron as he tried to twist Ginny in an easier position to carry. "Harry! I think Myrtle's grown fond of you! Ginny's got competition now!"

Malfoy scoffed and muttered some spells to clean herself up, though with the layers of dirt all of them were caked in it would have probably take forever to clean it all off by magic completely. So when the worst had gone she simply headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm tired, I've been attacked by a giant snake and I'm covered in Merlin knows what. I'm going back to my dorm." She snapped. "But first I'm going to Lockhart's office to change my grades. It's not like he'll know the difference anyway." She continued motioning to the completely spaced out man sitting on the floor of the girl's bathroom. "If you ever tell anyone I had anything to do with this. I'll bloody murder you Potter. You just take all of the credit for yourself. I'm sure you'd love to do that. Wouldn't you?" And with that she disappeared.

Harry wondered if things between the two of them would be different after this. Somehow he expected they would be.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I have no excuses. I just haven`t been writing much anymore. I hate this chapter and the one after this. I`m starting to really resent this whole project really : Because I`m never really pleased with the result. No matter how much I reread and re-edit.**

**On a more positive note I`m finally moving to London in one month. It probably means a lot more work and a lot less free time but it's definitely a sacrifice I`m willing to make.**

**Oh btw. I`m not really that familiar with British cussing. Does anyone know a good one to use as the fem version of git? Cause Ron tends to call Malfoy a slimy git quite often I`m always stumped at what I should change it into. I think cunt would be a bit much, wouldn`t it? I mean making a 12 year old say cunt is kind of- On the other hand 12 year old these days do tend do have quite a dirty mouth...**

**So what do you think? Should I leave it, change it? And if so, change it into what? I`m looking forward to hearing your suggestions.**

**And thanks everyone who reviewed/faved/followed. It really does get me motivated and pumped up to start writing the fourth book and going through the second.**

**Also don`t be afraid to tell me what you`d like to happen in the next couple of books. Two heads are always better than one!**


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